Charmed Reborn (Season Four and Five)
by AdzPower
Summary: Prue, Piper and Phoebe. The Original Charmed Ones, the most powerful good witches of all time, and they're back! A new series set in an alternate timeline where Prue didn't die, continuing on from the end of season three, featuring characters you've seen before re-made in the new timeline, everything has changed, but maybe some thing's stay the same?
1. Unexpressed Fury

Charmed Reborn, Chapter One: "Unexpressed Fury".

21st May, 2016

Titus was irritated. He had everything he wanted, he was The Source, he had all the power he could want, demons laid down their lives for him on a regular basis, they served him with everything they had.

It was because of course, that he provided them with such great leadership, he had united the underworld in all its glory, but still. Those witches.

Every single time, they got in his way, he was without a doubt the strongest Source there had ever been, with power unparalleled to any other evil being, yet still it wasn't enough to stop them. He dug his fingers into his palms, they began to bleed. The thought of them made him insanely angry. Piper, Phoebe and Paige, he would curse those names for all eternity. But now he had crossed them, he had finally caused them great pain by taking one of their own, he had no idea what she was called, just that she was one of the Warren children, he had taken great joy in cutting her open as she screamed for her mother. He had no clue how old she was, 12 or 13 maybe, humans all looked the same to him. He stared down at his hands, red from so much blood, not his this time, no, all the good he had ripped apart, soaked in like a sponge, he craved more of it. He wouldn't stop until every last Warren was dead and lying at his feet.

He had a plan, but it was complicated, thankfully he had been working on it for some time now, he had shown the underworld that not every member of that family was immortal. And now he would make it so none of it ever existed.

He raised his arms and bellowed, "Tempus I summon thee".

The demon Tempus rose from the ground in front of Titus like sand coming together, forming a body.

He bowed down in respect, Tempus was strong, but his magic did not lie with the offensive, he stood no chance, he had to obey, they all had to obey.

"You called?" He said coldly.

"It has been 15 years since you last used your power to reverse time correct?" Titus inquired.

Tempus nodded, unsure of what was coming next.

"If I recall hearing correctly, you reversed time so that The Charmed Ones and their magic would never be exposed" he questioned.

"That is true my liege, it resulted in the death of one of the sisters" Tempus explained.

"Yes, but I want you to reverse time again, back to that event, stop the sisters from being exposed, and allow the sister who died to live".

"But, my lord, that could bring untold consequences, without her dying it is possible the witches may be even more powerful" Tempus pleaded.

"They're already too powerful!" Titus thundered, getting to his feet.

"But in this new world you may not ever even become The Source, that big of a change will surely affect us down here as well" Tempus said, backing away.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take, now Tempus, listen to me, I want you to reverse time to May 17th, 2001, stop The Charmed Ones from discovering their new sister, stop the witch from dying, and more importantly, erase all those stinking off-spring, so that by the time I come to power, there won't be enough of them to stop me", Titus sat back down, too excited to remain calm, at last, his plan would take effect, and the witches would have no idea any of it had ever happened.

"Now!" he shouted.

Tempus nodded and raised his arms.

He let out a groan, this kind of reversal would take him centuries to recover from, but never the less, he obeyed his master, a bead of sweat rolled down his face, he looked up at the sky, he could see into the mortal world, lightning bolts struck the sky as the Earth began to turn back, the magnetism reverting to times gone past, as the process continued Titus faded away along with his laugh, his evil plan finally at its fruition, Tempus himself began to fade.

He gasped as he realised this reversal was changing his own timeline as well, he collapsed to the ground, weakened, aged, his withered hands began to turn to dust, before he could even let out a scream he had turned to ash, lost to the winds of time.

13th July, 2001

Phoebe Halliwell was a brave, courageous woman. She knew that, but it wasn't until now that she realised just how brave she was, not that she thought about it often, it would be pretty egotistical of her to think that a lot.

But after spending 8 weeks in hell, with almost no contact from any kind of human being, she figured that maybe she could start calling herself brave.

She looked out onto The Source's personal chambers. This is where she had been held captive for the last couple of months, trapped in a magical cage, "unbreakable" was the word that he had used now that she thought of it. She had no idea if her sisters were alright, if they were even alive. She didn't even know why she was still alive, he could have killed her easily by now. She knew she was the weakest, so did he, it could have been over and done with weeks ago. Sometimes she wished it had been.

The Source's chambers were interesting, she had thought, a big, square room, a big king size bed though she knew he never used it, a throne by the left wall, some paintings, a chandelier, if she didn't already know who this all belonged too she would have guessed some kind of rich, snobby aristocrat. And here she was, on the right wall, in her cage, out of the way, she was still in the same clothes she had been captured in, she stank, her hair was limp, her clothes filthy with a mixture of blood and dirt. She hadn't seen Cole in a long while. He was probably long dead as well.

Who was she kidding? She didn't feel brave, she'd just read it in one of those self-hell books once that telling yourself that would keep a person positive. Fat lot of good she thought. Her magic was useless to her right now. She cursed her supposed "destiny", she hated it, she hated The Source and she hated her life. She stopped herself, it was not often that Phoebe chose to hate anything. What was happening to her?

A reddish aura bled through the chandelier into the middle of the room before a tower of flames erupted, when they died down a figure was standing there, it was him.

"So, are you ready for your next treatment?" The Source asked with glee.

Piper was sitting in the attic, in "her" spot, she had decided to call it, since this was pretty much the only place you'd find her these days. She was sitting by the table, the book open in front of her.

"Blood to blood I summon thee, blood to blood, return to me".

Piper threw the yarrow root in the cauldron and pricked her finger with an athame, she hoped, prayed that this time it would work, blood dribbled down into the bowl. She waited for a minute, at this point it was like a performance at the theatre. Rehearsed so many times that she'd lost count of how often she'd performed it. Nothing. Again. Her fingers were covered with little holes, she had cast this spell about twenty times today alone. She didn't care, Leo could heal them later.

She felt lost. Completely alone. Leo was always "up there", trying to find some kind of lead that would help them find Phoebe, and as for Prue, she may as well have not even been there at all for all the help she had been. Piper had to be honest, she resented her older sister a lot right now, she didn't know if Prue had just blocked it out, or if she was in some kind of denial. But she refused to even talk about it, like she had just given up. But Piper wouldn't do that, she'd never leave Phoebe down there, and if she was dead and they just didn't know it yet, well then, she needed to know that to.

Prue slammed the door behind her as she walked through the manor door, it had been a tough day at work, her heart hadn't really been in it, she had snapped the pictures but nothing had come up right, her boss hadn't been happy and had replaced her with someone else for the shoot. She didn't mind, these days she didn't have much passion for photography.

She made her way into the kitchen for a drink, wine was her favorite these days, and any wine would do, whatever they had. She poured the red into a nice glass and took a deep drink, that's better she thought, better to blur everything out.

She made her way over to the dining table when a cool breeze blew against her shoulders, she looked around to see a white, shining light materialize into the kitchen, when the light faded. It was her mother standing there in front of her.

"I've come to talk to you Prue" she said in what was supposed to be in a stern voice.

"Well that's nice, where were you the rest of my life?" she sneered back.

Patty flinched, unused to the venom in her daughter's voice.

Prue hung her head, she shouldn't have said that, but it had felt good to let loose some of her anger, even if it was on someone who didn't deserve it.

Patty regained her composure, "I'm here to talk about Phoebe".

Prue sighed, this was not a subject she wanted to talk about.

"Your sister needs your help, they both do, you can't just give up, me and your grams, we've been watching" Patty said.

"Phoebe's dead and Piper's in denial" Prue replied sternly.

"I haven't given up, I've moved on" she declared with not much conviction.

"I don't believe that, and I don't think you do either" Patty said back.

"I know you think it's your fault…." Patty began to say when….

A loud clang rang out over the kitchen, Prue had thrown her wine glass threw Patty and it had hit the cupboards across the room and smashed, the wine spilling out everywhere, like blood Prue thought.

"This is none of your business, and as I said, I don't want to talk about it, with you, with Piper, with anyone!" Prue yelled.

"I'm here to tell you it's not your fault" Patty continued. "Someone has to tell you that so you can move on from this and find Phoebe, she's alive Prue, I know it".

"How?" Prue demanded.

"You'd know if she was dead, your bond is so strong, that if one of you died your emotions, your powers, they'd be weaker", "and from where I'm standing, they look as strong as ever".

Prue sank to the floor, in tears, Patty tried to comfort her, but she settled for laying her hand just above Prue's head, she couldn't do much more as a ghost.

"She's my little sister, and I failed her, I let him take her away from me, from us" Prue gasped out in between sobs.

She felt like such a failure, she hadn't just let Phoebe down, she had disappointed Piper as well as herself too.

"You can still fix this, I know it, start by helping Piper, and go from there".

Patty vanished into the air as white orbs surrounded her and spun out across the room.

Prue sat and rested her back against the kitchen wall, breathing deeply whilst trying to regain her composure.

"What's going on"? Piper asked.

Prue's head flitted to the right, Piper was in the kitchen doorway, peering inside at Prue, she looked nervous, almost cautious to be talking to her. Prue let the shame wash over her as she got up. She wrapped her arms around Piper and took her into a hug, Piper resisted at first, but soon relaxed, the both of them collapsed onto the floor in tears, consoling each other.

Phoebe was strapped to the usual metal frame, her hands and feet tied together as The Source took his usual position by her head, she saw that he had invited some guests today, a grimlock, some upper level looking demons including a woman in red as well as Shax, The Source's assassin, who to her horror was clearly still alive, which probably meant her sisters were dead. She held back a sob as The Source began to speak.

"You are here, my most trusted advisories, to see the fruits of my labour as it were" his big, booming voice echoed around the chamber.

He raised his hands on both sides of her head and she felt the familiar sensation of being dropped into deep water. Images swam through her head, those of destruction, of victory, of blood, it was the same as usual, except this time, those images were interspersed with memories of her childhood, of the time she had taken a jacket of Prue's and Piper had been the one to get the blame. Or the time she had been arguing with Piper over her favorite doll going missing.

"Hate them Phoebe, hate them all" she heard a gravelly voice whispering into her ear.

Her eyes snapped open, she looked around her. She was back in her cage, not really able to remember what had just happened, her mind had blanked, she was taken from the cage, she remembered being strapped to the table, but the rest was empty. She sighed and sunk to the cage floor, shivering, she didn't know why, but there was a bitter taste on her tongue.

The Source had summoned her, and of course she would come, the mysterious woman in red made her way into the chamber, he was standing in front of her, she kneeled and nodded her head in a show of respect.

He raised his arm, she stood, she smiled.

"I see your plan is going wonderfully my liege" the woman said with a smile.

"Indeed it is Seer", but I am anxious that it is taking this long, their bond is much stronger than I gave them credit for".

"They are The Charmed Ones oh evil one, the most powerful good witches, their bond is literally prophesised, it does not surprise me that one of them would be this hard to break".

"You promised me a victory Seer!" The Source thundered.

"Yes I did, and soon we will have just that" she promised.

"Fine, be gone with you" he waved an arm to dismiss her.

She backed away slowly before vanishing in a wave of indigo light.

She reappeared in her own chambers, bits of bone loitered about, mainly used for evil rituals. Her eyes went white as she looked into the future, she smiled at what she saw.

"Oh yes, my liege, soon, I will have just that".

She cackled as she looked down in the well at the centre of her room, she could just about make out a figure down there, chained up. She had kept him a secret, had not dared tell a soul she had him alive, as all of the underworld including The Source were under the impression he was dead. But she needed him if her plan was to work.

But she needed to figure out how to go about the next part of her plan. Helping, she gulped in disgust, The Charmed Ones.

Leo rarely enjoyed orbing into the manor these days, it was fraught with tension and anxiety, it made him nervous, he didn't know which set of sisters he was going to find, the cut the tension like a knife kind or the playful, fun kind.

The last thing he expected when he orbed into the kitchen was to see Prue and Piper on the floor sobbing into each other's shoulders. He backed away into the laundry room, he didn't want to interrupt what he suspected was a sorely needed moment for the both of them.

It was too late though, Piper had spotted him, both her and Prue got up and choked back some tears, for the first time in weeks they were smiling. He took that as a sign that he could talk.

"You two uh….make up?" He asked quietly.

"We're sisters" Prue nodded, "we always make up".

"Even if it takes half a century" Piper laughed.

"Well, I really do hate, and I really mean that, to interrupt but the elders have found a dark source of energy coming from downtown that could maybe have something to do with Phoebe, it may be nothing but it's the first demonic activity we've seen since, well, she went missing."

"Do they know what kind of demonic activity?" Piper inquired.

"No they do not, they can't get a read on it, but I checked it out and some lesser criminals have gone missing from around that area lately".

"Gee what a loss" Prue smirked jokingly.

"We'll check it out, right Piper?" Prue asked.

"Uh…sure, but remember we're one witch down….I mean temporarily down, but if it's something that strong and we don't have the power of three to help…."

"Don't worry, I'm gonna orb you straight in, the elders don't want to take any chances with their remaining two Charmed Ones, if it gets dicey I'll orb you straight back here" Leo said.

"Ok then, but first we must prepare" Piper said, determined.

Ten minutes later and Prue and Piper had gathered anything they could think of, athames, generic vanquishing potions and some charms for good luck.

"Let's save our sister" Prue said.

They each took one of Leo's hands and the three orbed out in a swirl of bright bluish light, one second they were in the kitchen, and the next they were standing in a dank alley in downtown San Francisco.

The smell hit Piper at once.

"Eurghk, what is that?" she asked whilst wrinkling her nose.

"Definitely smells evil to me" Prue answered.

The three of them made their way cautiously down the alley, as they approached the end they heard screaming.

"Where is that coming from?" Leo queried.

They heard the screaming coming from a large door on the right.

"There" Prue pointed.

"Stand back, I'll blow it up" Piper confidently said.

Prue and Leo nodded and took a step back, not sure what to expect from Piper's unpredictable new power.

She raised her hands and took the usual stance, only for Leo to freeze.

"Uh Piper" Prue pointed towards her Whitelighter.

"Oh for God's sake" Piper yelled exasperatingly.

She shrugged off her jacket and raised her hands again, the door blew into smithereens as shards of woods splintered over them, with Leo unfreezing at the same time.

A man came running out, pushing past the sisters and went tumbling into Leo, knocking them both to the ground.

Prue turned to face the door, standing in it were now three feminine figures, wearing what she thought were particularly skimpy maroon outfits, they had claws the size of a lion and had tribal looking markings around their faces.

They came charging towards the man, he got up and bolted down the street.

"Not so fast ladies" Piper yelled as she raised her hands and blew up a dumpster to the left of the demons.

"Piper no!" Leo shouted, but it was too late.

The demons had turned their attention onto Piper.

"I don't think so" Prue stood in front of her sister.

She flicked her arm and nothing happened.

"Wait what?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Leo what is happening?" she demanded.

Leo hurried to stand up and ran to the girls, grabbing them by the arms and pulling them to the back of the alley so he could get his charges to safety.

"Leo, what are those things?" Prue asked.

"They're furies, they go after evil doers, but they can't tell the difference between a petty thief and a murderer, they go after everyone".

They had almost made it to the back when a fury smoked its way in front of them, literally appearing in a haze of steam.

It knocked Leo back to the ground and started attacking Prue, she blocked the attack with her arm and back handed the fury across the face, it snarled at her and whirled around to perform a kick, Prue caught it and lifted the fury off the ground and into the wall next to her.

The other two furies smoked in front of Piper and knocked her to the ground, one of them breathing smoke into Piper's mouth, she pushed the fury off her as Prue whirled around and kicked the other one hard in the stomach.

They ran to Leo as he staggered to his feet, grabbed his arms and he didn't hesitate to quickly orb them back to the manor kitchen.

They all sank to the floor to catch their breath, Piper coughing as she regained her wits.

"Are you two ok?" Leo asked, worried.

"We're fine, I think, right Piper?"

Piper coughed some more and replied "Yeah I guess".

"Well, unless Phoebe has managed to perform some kind of magical plastic surgery on herself, I'm guessing that those demons were both not her, nor knew where we could find her" Piper angrily stood.

"Well, we knew it could be a long-shot" Leo said.

"You know what Leo? I am damn tired of all these long-shots, for once can we not just have something go our friggin' way?!" Piper yelled and stormed off out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Don't worry Leo, I got this" Prue said.

She rushed out after Piper. Leo just sunk down into a chair by the table, wondering if this mess would ever end.

Phoebe was just waking up, she'd had such a nice dream, her and her sisters, eating dinner together, before Prue had stood up and stabbed her through the eye with a bread knife, but that would never happen. Prue would never do that to her.

She shook her head, wondering what had gotten into her, though she had a sneaking suspicion it was more of a "who."

It took her a moment to realise there was a figure standing in front of her, a dark skinned woman with a red cloak draped over her.

"Awake at last I see" she commented

"Well there isn't much to do here except sleep" Phoebe snarled back.

"Ooh, testy are we?" the woman cackled.

"I like that in a good witch" she smiled.

"I am The Seer, I work for The Source".

"Come to watch the monkey in the cage then have we?" Phoebe murmured.

"Well I'm sorry, but business hours are closed".

"Actually, I have a plan to set you free", "I have my own agenda" The Seer said confidently.

"Not all of us want war with the good side" The Seer continued.

"I for one just want peace, and as long as you are here, your sisters will wage war on the underworld, and innocent demons will perish".

"Innocent? Demons?" Phoebe giggled, "That's a good one".

"We aren't all interested in world domination you know", "some of us just want harmony".

"As a disciple to The Source I have access to the demonic wasteland, where I have found some very interesting characters who are willing to help me, and you" The Seer said.

"And why would dead demons want to help the girl who put them there?" Phoebe inquired, suspicious.

"Oh, a lot of them don't, but some of those that survive there were put there by The Source, not you, though you did help".

"I'm sending them to your sisters right now".

The couple approached the front door to the Halliwell manor, unsure of what to expect. The Seer had made them corporeal for 24 hours, just enough time for them to help the witches and get revenge on him.

But they knew they wouldn't be welcomed, the last time they had seen each other was not as you might imagine, on good circumstances. The woman hurried ahead, eager to get this over and done with.

"Hannah, kitten", the man said.

"No need to rush".

Piper was in the attic, not feeling her best, but motivated to find Phoebe after her and Prue had finally reconciled.

She held back a cough, her throat felt like it was burning. She heard the doorbell and figured Prue would get it since she was downstairs, then she heard yelling. Lots of it.

She hurried down the steps and saw to her surprise two figures at the bottom in crumpled positions. A man and a woman. The man lifted his head, Piper spluttered.

"What the hell are they doing here?" she yelled.

"Your guess is as good as mine" Prue snarled.

"Last time we saw you one of you was black and furry, the other was food, so what the hell are you doing back?" Prue demanded.

Rex and Hannah stood, brushing their clothes down.

"If you'd give us a second to explain we can tell you!" Hannah shouted.

"Hannah, calm down" Rex pleaded.

He continued "We're here to help you rescue your sister, we have been sent by a, you could say neutral party, one that wants your sister free from the clutches of The Source".

"What's in it for you?" Piper accused.

"We want revenge" Hannah replied.

"Remember when I burst into flames, yeah, me too, it burnt worse than hell, it was him".

"The Source killed you?" Prue said, surprised.

"We failed him, and no one can do that without consequences".

"So, wait, he's been after us this whole time?" Piper asked.

"As far back as you two?" she continued.

"Yes" Rex obliged, "right from the very start, he knew who you were and what kind of threat you could become, have become".

Piper sank down onto a step, her pulse racing, she could barely breathe, was she having some kind of anxiety attack.

Leo approached her and gasped, Piper wondered why until she looked down at her hands, long talons had grown out of the tops of her fingers.

"Stand back everyone" Rex yelled.

"I've seen this", "I think she's turning into a fu…."

His words were cut off as Piper let out a blood curdling scream and was engulfed by smoke, when the smoke vanished her transformation was complete, she was now a fury.

The remaining three furies smoked in behind her, grabbed her by the arms and smoked out.

Prue and Leo could only stand there, helpless, it had all happened so fast. Prue sunk down to her knees, unable to grasp that she had just lost another sister.

"I've checked the book" Leo said, walking down from the attic.

"It says to stop someone from becoming a fully-fledged fury you need to close the portal of unexpressed fury".

"What does that even mean?" Prue said, frustrated.

"If I might?" Rex appeared with Hannah from around the corner.

"Oh, you're still here" Prue sighed.

"Yes, and we aren't going until we get your sister back" Hannah said.

"Both of them" Rex finished.

"I have an idea" Hannah said.

"It may be a little rash, but we can use me and Rex as bait, draw the furies out, they go after evil doer's right?"

"Well, you're already here, so why wouldn't they have attacked yet?" Prue queried.

"They may want to get Piper settled in" Rex said.

He turned to Hannah, "I don't want you a part of this, let me be the bait, I couldn't bare it if someone happened to you" Rex said, his hands cupped around Hannah's face.

"Well whadda you know?" Prue smirked, "evil can love".

"We'll back you up" Hannah said.

Rex paced back and forth down the hallway of the manor, he was anxious, now he had two Charmed Ones to save, and a rapidly ticking alarm clock, they only had about 22 hours now. The Seer would not be pleased if they didn't meet their deadline.

Suddenly an overwhelmingly high pitched scream filled his ears, making them bleed, he let out a scream, sunk to his knees, he was in agony.

"Rex!" Hannah shouted as she came running out of her hiding spot.

"Hannah no, get back!" He yelled.

Piper and another fury smoked in front of Rex, the fury knocked Hannah to the floor, winded she got up and yelled, "NOW!"

Prue astral projected into the hallway, performing an expert roundhouse kick on the fury and knocking her against the front door.

"Witchy powers may not work on furies, but warlock ones do" Prue said as she ducked whilst Hannah stood and shot a firebolt at the fury, she screamed and burst into flames.

"Huh, is that what I looked like?" Hannah questioned.

The other two furies smoked in behind Rex and Hannah.

"Going for the sneak attack, nice try Piper" Prue said as she jumped up into the air, used her telekinesis to flip herself over Rex and Hannah and onto the other side. One fury slashed her talons at Prue, catching her arm and making her stagger.

"I just bought that shirt!" Prue yelled angrily as she pulled the hidden athame from inside her boot and plunged it into the fury who exploded with a scream.

Two down, two to go, Prue thought.

Rex had recovered, he stood in front of Piper, trying to shield Hannah away.

"You don't want to do this Piper, we're trying to help you get Phoebe back".

Prue had just dispatched the last fury when Piper smoked out and then in front of Prue.

"How dare you!" she yelled.

She tumbled into Prue, the two fell to the floor before Prue had done something she had never done before, she astral projected herself and Piper into Phoebe's room.

Piper looked around, shocked, she sunk to the floor, crying, smoke erupting around her as she banged the floor with her fists.

"How could they all just die and leave me here all alone?!" Piper screamed.

"You were never alone Piper", "I was here!" Prue consoled.

"Yeah right, miss in denial, you left me alone for weeks to try and find Phoebe all alone, we need her Prue, not just for the power of three but for us, as sisters" Piper collapsed to the floor as smoke erupted around her and she returned to normal.

Prue took Piper's hand and together the sisters projected down to their bodies, Piper's in the hallway, and Prue's in her hidden spot in the dining room.

Leo had watched the commotion from outside Phoebe's room, he had felt Piper in pain and return to her human form but didn't want to intervene, this was another private moment he didn't want to interrupt.

He slowly orbed down into the living room, Rex and Hannah sitting on the stairway, Prue and Piper on the sofa hugging.

"I'm so sorry Piper, I'll never leave you again" Prue said, whilst stroking Piper's hair.

"And together we'll find Phoebe".

"About that" Hannah piped up.

"We don't have much time, did we mention the 24 hour deadline?"

"What?!" both sisters yelled in unison.

"Guess not" Hannah said.

"Now it's more like 21 hours" Rex corrected.

"So in 21 hours we're supposed to come up with a plan, sneak down into the underworld, evade all the demons and The Source AND break Phoebe out" Piper said waiting for conformation from the warlocks.

"Well, yes" Rex said, shrugging.

"Then let's get to it" Prue said.

End of Chapter One, stay tuned for Chapter Two: "Rescue Strategy".


	2. Rescue Strategy

Charmed Reborn, Chapter Two: "Rescue Strategy".

Prue was cleaning, she hated cleaning. And yet, here she was, with rubber gloves on, a spray bottle in one hand and a rag in the other, furiously trying to clean the dining table.

"Stop that!" Piper yelled from the sink.

She was washing out bowls and cauldrons which she had just used to make a wide array of different potions, ones to stun, freeze, paralyze, they were getting prepared, according to Rex and Hannah who had gone to visit their "neutral" party to get some more ideas of how to get to Phoebe, they only had about 18 hours left. Leo had gone to see the elders to see if their offer was legitimate.

Prue stood back, satisfied with her work, it was the first time she could say that in a good couple of months. Her photographer job at 415 magazine had gone slightly downhill since Phoebe was taken.

Rex and Hannah blinked into the kitchen.

"Whoa, haven't done that in a while" Hannah exclaimed.

"We've spoken to our friend" Rex said pointedly.

Piper sniggered, "right, OUR friend" she made a waving gesture for them to continue.

"And?" Prue asked.

"And, she has a plan, we're to meet her in 3 hours at a specific point in San Francisco, there are special weak points in this dimension, where people can sneak into the underworld, undetected" Rex said.

"We'll meet her and then continue from there" Hannah said.

"That's it?" Piper asked, disbelieving.

"Well, admittedly, it has some kinks" Hannah said, "but this demon has been a close confidant to The Source for centuries, if anyone can help us, she can".

"I don't like the idea of trusting a demon, considering the whole reason we're in this mess is thanks to one" Piper said, shaking her head.

"We have no choice Piper, remember Krell?" Prue asked.

"I remember him crashing into our clock, and us having to send it off for repair for the one hundredth time" Piper rolled her eyes as she was explaining.

"I mean, that sometimes we have to do things we don't always want to, if this helps us get Phoebe back we need to give it a chance".

"Oh, this is probably your only chance" Rex pointed out.

"This is our window, we cannot screw this up, no matter what" Rex continued.

"Gee thanks for the confidence" Piper snapped back.

A bright light shone in the middle of the room, after it vanished Leo was standing there with his arms folded.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Well, sort of" Prue said.

Piper asked, "What did they say?"

"They think it's legit" he shrugged.

Prue turned to look at Piper, who stared back but gave up and nodded, she knew they had to take this chance, no matter how small.

Prue pulled the book of shadows off the counter top and moved to the now clean table, with the idea of flipping through and finding some kind of spell that may help.

"Huh" she said, surprised.

"What?" Piper asked, curiously coming to look over Prue's shoulder.

"I don't remember seeing this spell before" she said.

Piper took a look at the page, "to curse a relative" was the title.

"That's weird, but come on, we can think about this once we have Phoebe back" Piper said, patting Prue's shoulder.

The Seer materialised into her chambers, she walked, almost glided along to the well in the centre of the room and looked down into it.

"It is time" she exclaimed.

She raised her arms and the bottom of the well began to rise to the top, a crumpled figure was laying on the top, The Seer directed the figure off the top of the well and moved him onto the floor, he raised his head, it was Cole.

"Rise Belthazor, it is your moment to shine, to save your witch" she said.

Cole raised his head, and slowly got to his feet, then lunged at The Seer, screaming whilst doing so, he didn't get far however, she raised her arm and a large forcefield knocked him back.

"Listen to me closely, you must do exactly as I say, or your witch, your Phoebe, will be lost to you, and to her sisters".

Cole perked back up, he was listening. He could barely speak, his throat felt ashen from weeks of disuse.

"Good, now, I have some helpers, people who want revenge on The Source, those that want payback, and right now they are with the remaining Charmed Ones, in 3 hours we will meet them at a secret location, ready for the rescue". The Seer shuddered at the thought, doing good was definitely not in her nature.

Cole had regained his voice, "helping good witches? That's unlike you Seer".

"I am not doing this for you, or for the witches, I am doing this for me" The Seer bellowed the last part, making sure he knew what her motivation was.

"You will meet the witches at this entrance" The Seer touched her hand to Cole's head, telepathically giving him the information.

"Now go", "and remember, the whole world thinks you dead, so be careful".

Cole shimmered out, The Seer smiled, her plan was working, luckily thanks to her visions she knew exactly what was to come, she just had to make it all came to pass.

"Here we are" Rex said, pointing at the brick wall.

"Huh, not what I was expecting" Prue said, disappointed.

"What did you expect? A palace" Hannah sneered.

Glaring, Prue took Piper's hands and together they walked into the wall.

"I feel like I'm on my way to Hogwarts" Prue said as they walked through.

When they reached the other side they were in the underworld, no one was around that they could see or hear, but they'd faced invisible demons before, Prue thought.

"Geez does all of the underworld look this flashy?" Piper jokingly asked.

They were faced with a large corridor, statues lining the sides, candles on the walls, it all looked very dead and ashen.

"Pretty much" Hannah said as she appeared behind them, Rex in tow.

"This way" Rex said, pointing to the left.

They had only gone a few meters when Cole shimmered in front of them.

"Whoa, you look like hell" Piper said.

"You have no idea" he said, obviously exhausted.

"So, where have you been this whole time?" Prue said, glaring at the half demon.

"Believe it or not I was in the same position as Phoebe, held prisoner for the last however long it's been" he answered.

"Well he's here now and that's what counts" Hannah said, throwing Cole a wink.

Cole looked suitably unimpressed and continued.

"I have the plan, The Seer put it in my head".

"Your head?" Piper asked.

"Yes, my head, so we should get going".

They continued walking for a few more minutes.

"Who's The Seer?" Piper asked.

"I can answer that" Rex piped up. "She's a powerful upper level demon, has served The Source for a long time, but now she means to move against him".

"But why?" Piper wondered.

"No one knows her true intentions, only that she operates for herself" Hannah explained.

"Sounds trustworthy" Prue said quietly.

Phoebe screamed, she was back on the table, she was in so much pain, like her brain was being warped.

"There now, rest Phoebe" The Source said as he put her back to sleep.

"Take her back to her cage" he demanded of the minion demons surrounding him.

At once three demons stepped forward to retrieve her, they pulled her off and dragged her back through the dungeon, making their way back to The Source's chambers.

Once safely back in her prison one of the demons turned to one of the others and threw an energy ball over the top of his head, causing him to explode.

The other demon was about to let out a scream when an athame was plunged through his throat, also causing him to explode.

Phoebe was just stirring when she looked up and saw a demon shapeshift into someone else.

"Who are you?" she asked groggily.

"I am Alastair, a chameleon demon" he smiled.

"And I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm here to help".

He bent down to retrieve the keys to the cage door and then proceeded to unlock it, he grabbed Phoebe under her arms and pulled her out.

"I don't get it, you're a demon, you work for The Source, why are you helping me?"

"I did work for him" Alastair said, "but now I work for, you could say, a neutral friend".

Piper was bored, they had been walking for what felt like hours.

"Are we there yet?" she moaned.

"Really Piper?" Prue gave her a stern look.

As they rounded a corner, they stopped, they were overlooking the side of a large colosseum, currently full of thousands of demons, all gathered for some kind of purpose.

"Listen to me, my brothers and sisters", a voice bellowed from a high.

The group looked up, and saw a dark, cloaked figure giving some kind of speech to the group of demons.

"It's him" Hannah whispered.

"Who him?" Piper asked.

"The Source", she said grimly.

"We're close" Cole said, "His chambers are nearby".

Prue was anxious to hear what he was saying, but forced herself to look away.

"Ok" Cole said, clapping his hands together, "This is the next part of the plan".

"A distraction" he whispered, smiling.

Before they could say anything, Cole had shimmered away from them and up into the colosseum, behind The Source.

"Hello my fellow evildoers" he bellowed, faking a Texan accent.

"I am here to tell you, that you all smell like a scavenger demon" he laughed as he shimmered from behind The Source and into the middle of the crowd.

"Who wants to catch the big, bad, Belthazor?" He asked, eyebrows raised, then shimmered out.

"Find him!" The Source shrieked angrily.

"Now's our chance" Rex muttered.

The four of them ran as fast as they could, Hannah leading the way, they rounded the corner and almost collided with someone.

They all stopped in disbelief, it was Phoebe.

Prue couldn't believe her eyes, her sister was here, she looked dishevelled, exhausted and dare she say it, broken?

All three sisters pulled each other into a hug, Prue and Piper barely able to conceal their joy.

Phoebe was too weak to reciprocate.

Prue and Piper hiked Phoebe up onto each their shoulders and dragged her along the pathway.

"We have to make our way back to the portal" Rex said, anxious.

"All the way back there?!" Piper questioned furiously.

"Phoebe won't make it that far" Prue pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but there is no other way" he said.

They continued on, past the colosseum when a dark voice cascaded around them, echoing pure evil off the walls.

"Going somewhere?"

He appeared in a huge column of flame just ahead of them, his face covered by his hood, all they could see were massive red hands poking out of his sleeves.

"You have something of mine" he boomed.

"I don't think so asshole" Prue snarled, bringing her arm up to make him fly across the room, only for him to barely flinch.

"Huh?" she looked down at her arm in disbelief.

"What is going on?" she asked, suddenly quite scared.

"You mean you don't know?" Hannah questioned.

"Don't know what?" Piper asked.

The Source was shaking with laughter.

"Here I am, foiled time and again by the most powerful witches of all time, and you don't even know that your powers are weakened down here".

"Your Whitelighter didn't tell you?" he asked innocently.

"Prue, if we get outta this, remind me to divorce Leo" Piper yelled.

Phoebe groaned between them, growing weaker by the second.

"Try and freeze him Piper" Prue said.

Piper threw up her hand but to no avail, it had no effect whatsoever.

"I think this is where we come in" Rex said as he and Hannah took a step in front of the Charmed Ones.

"It's time we got some revenge" Hannah spat.

"You two?" The Source cackled nastily.

"You fools, you're as weak as they come, you failed miserably before and you'll fail miserably again".

Hannah got down on all fours, and turned into her panther form, she stalked slowly towards The Source before leaping up, taking a chunk of finger with her.

The Source screamed in pain, "Stupid girl, you stand no chance!"

He raised his hand, produced a fireball and threw it at Hannah, who exploded into a million particles of ash.

"NO!" Rex shouted, his voice full of grief.

He ran to The Source, yelling at the sisters to turn around and make a run for it.

He pulled out an athame and plunged into his gut, at least he tried, it bounced off The Source and slid right into himself.

Rex fell to his knees. Looking down at his wound.

"Didn't I tell you this was fruitless?" The Source teased.

"Oh I wouldn't say that" Rex smiled.

"You see, we knew you'd dispatch us quite easily, our true revenge was to make sure the sisters escaped, so that one day they could come back, and make you wish you had never been born", Rex laughed as he burst into flames, his ashes mixing with those of his beloved, his laugh echoing off the walls as a breeze blew him away.

They had made it to the colosseum, Prue and Piper dragging Phoebe along with them, but they hadn't made it far before a cascade of flames erupted just in front of them, he had found them already.

But Prue wasn't going down without a fight, powers or no powers, she was going to make him pay. She ran forward, ducking under his outstretched arms and performing a roundhouse kick to trip him up, he fell to the ground and she jumped on top of him, punching him round the face until she felt her hand slick with blood, it was black, she swallowed back bile and pulled his hood off. She had to swallow back some more.

"Yuck!" Prue heard Piper gag from behind her.

The Source was a monstrosity, red skin, huge black eyes that shined with glaring flame, his face was half torn away by years of warfare, two large horns poked out of either side of his head, his teeth were razor sharp, almost like they had purposely been filed to look that way.

"So, you've seen my true face", he smirked, "now you have to die".

He pushed Prue off him like she was nothing more than a ragdoll, he spat black blood out his mouth to the side as he was standing, Piper helped Prue to her feet.

"What do we do?" she asked, terrified.

The Source started to gather massive energy into a large fireball, Piper tried to freeze it but just as before it had no effect.

"We do this" Phoebe suddenly shouted. She raised her arms and magically shimmered the sisters out of there.

"That isn't one of Phoebe's powers" The Source exclaimed.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

Phoebe began to morph, once finished she resembled an older male demon with greying curly hair.

"Alastair!" The Source shouted, shocked.

"How dare you betray me?!"

"All for the cause, my liege, all for the cause".

Alastair stood and took his punishment of the large fireball, he exploded into tiny particles.

The Source looked up at the colosseum ceiling and roared, flames licking up and down his body as he teleported away.

Phoebe felt so weak. The demon, Alastair, was that his name? Had shimmered her to some kind of corridor with statues lining the side, she was dizzy and unfocused, she could barely hold on much longer, but she could see a shining wall at the top of the corridor, she felt a strong pull towards it, like she had to make it down there.

A light at the end of the tunnel, she thought as she laughed at herself, delirious from lack of sustenance.

It took her far longer than it should have, but eventually she made it to the wall, and stepped through it.

There was a whirling sensation and she felt as though she were spinning.

Then she felt something she hadn't felt in months, the cool, smelly breeze of fresh air, she breathed in deeply, savouring every second of it.

Her head had cleared a little, she opened her eyes, it was night time, she was in a gloomy looking alleyway, but she knew for certain she was back home, in the city she had grew up in.

She collapsed to her knees, tears falling from her eyes, she had to close them from pain though when a bright blue light flowed down through the sky and down in front of her.

Piper felt lightheaded, one second they were facing The Source, the next they were back where they started, right by the portal.

But none of that mattered, Phoebe wasn't with them, The Source had probably vanquished her, they had failed.

The sisters had nothing to say, both of them were speechless, almost in disbelief, to have come so far only to be stopped at the last hurdle, it was heart-breaking.

She took Prue's hand and led her towards the portal, through it and onto the other side into the chilly night air of San Francisco.

They couldn't meet each other's eyes, if they did they would have collapsed in grief.

Prue and Piper made their way to the entrance of the alley, located Piper's SUV and got inside, drove home in silence and made their way to the front door.

Piper located her key and inserted it into the lock only for the door to swing open seemingly by itself, but it hadn't, Leo was on the other side, looking the happiest he had been in weeks.

"Oh, don't look so happy, we failed" Prue said curtly.

She stormed in, making her way towards the stairs so she could hide in her bedroom only for Leo to orb in front of her, blocking her way.

"Move Leo" Prue demanded.

"I don't know why you're so angry, you did it!" He literally jumped for joy and wrapped Prue in a hug.

She shoved him off, not sure what he was talking about.

"Leo, I don't get it, didn't you hear her?" Piper asked.

"But Phoebe is here, she came through the portal, as soon as she appeared in this realm I felt her presence and orbed to her!" he exclaimed.

"But we saw The Source take her" Piper questioned.

"That wasn't me" a voice echoed from the dining room.

Prue and Piper bolted for the adjoining room, almost tripping over themselves.

Phoebe sat in a chair to the left, looking utterly filthy but alright.

"Ok, I'm confused, someone wanna explain?" Prue asked hopefully.

"It was a demon, Alex something I think, I don't really remember, but he broke me out of my magic proof cage, turned into me and shimmered me to that portal, I guess he made it back to you guys as well" Phoebe said, sounding extremely weary.

"But this is great!" Prue laughed happily.

"But are you ok?" Piper asked, concerned.

"I'm ok" Phoebe nodded.

She got up and made her way to her sisters, Prue engulfed her in a big hug, Piper could have sworn she saw Phoebe flinch, but the next second she was hugging her oldest sister back, must having imagined it she thought to herself.

The Seer closed her eyes as the vision ended.

She smiled.

"Looks like it's all going to plan" she said to herself, cackling as she vanished in a ray of indigo light.

End of Chapter Two, stay tuned for Chapter Three: "A Day in the Life".


	3. A Day in the Life

Charmed Reborn Chapter Three: "A Day in the Life"

The sun had risen by the time Prue Halliwell woke up in the morning, she stifled a big yawn and drew back her curtains, allowing the golden rays to wash over her, almost energizing her for the day, who was she kidding? That was the coffee's job.

She threw on some casual clothes, a black t-shirt and some jeans and headed downstairs, as usual she was the first one up, she walked outside to grab the morning paper and headed towards the kitchen, put the coffee pot on and put some bread in the toaster, she went to the refrigerator with the intention of getting some of Piper's delicious homemade blackcurrant jam only to notice a half drunk bottle of wine on the bottom shelf, don't need that anymore, she thought to herself proudly before proceeding to wiggle her finger and make the bottle zoom into the trashcan.

She grabbed the jam and carried on with her breakfast, checking all the latest news in the paper as she ate.

She heard some soft footsteps behind her, but it was only Kit, coming into the kitchen for her morning feed.

After Prue fed her and got all her equipment together she made her way to the car, she had a big shoot today for a bridal spread in her magazine, a local store had sponsored it and allowed them to use their dresses, Prue had looked them over last night and she had to admit they were beautiful, made her think of all she will probably miss out on, she hadn't really been interested in finding someone since Andy had died, she had tried her best to stay in the game but she had finally come to the realization that she was just fine being on her own for now, if it happened, it happened.

She smiled as she got into the car thinking back to Piper's wedding day, how it had all been a complete disaster what with her astral self running wild and getting arrested for murder, just another day at Halliwell manor she thought.

The shoot was in golden gate park, beautiful day for it she thought as she got out her car thirty minutes later ready for work.

She took her equipment out of the trunk and walked across the soft morning grass, heading down to the spot that she would be working in.

They'd chosen a really pretty area with some serene benches, colorful flowers and where you could see the bridge clearly in the background, shooting out into the sky like a stairway to heaven.

"Uhh, Miss Halliwell?"

Prue groaned, not again she thought as she reached the spot.

Her annoying intern was here already waiting for her, he seemed a nice enough guy, but he kept getting things very wrong.

"Oh, hi Chip", she grinned widely.

Her boss had informed her early that week that the magazine she worked for, 415, had recently undertaken an internship program that would allow college students to get a part time job with them whilst doing their degree to get some hands on experience.

And Prue had been lumbered with Chip.

He was pretty to look at she supposed, all teeth and glossy slicked back dark hair, but way too young for her she thought.

"I have all the dresses lined up for you over here" he pointed to the left.

"And all the models this way" he pointed to the right.

"Sounds great Chip", "Are they ready for me?" Prue asked.

"Sure, sure, they're just waiting for you to set up so we can get started".

"Ok, tell them I'll be about 10 minutes, thanks Chip" she dismissed him so she could set up her camera equipment, recently she had been keen on advancing her skills at digital photography, since as with any other industry, if you don't move with the times you get left behind.

Three hours later and Prue was on her lunch break, she sat alone on one of the nice benches when her phone started to ring.

She answered, "Hello".

"Hey Prue, it's me, Darryl" came an anxious voice.

"Darryl hi, it's been a while since I saw you last".

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, it's been a pretty hectic couple of months"

"Tell me about it" Prue rolled her eyes as she thought about all the stress she had been under recently.

"Sooooo I take it this isn't a personal call?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, no" Darryl answered.

"To be honest I've been trying to keep this away from you for as long as possible, but I don't think it's going to be possible anymore".

"Keep what away Darryl? You're making me nervous".

"There's an Inspector who has been wanting to get in touch with you for some time now, his name is Cortez".

"Get in touch with me, about what?" Prue asked, curious.

"A well-known, well respected doctor died at the manor Prue, and he wants answers".

Prue remembered Dr Griffiths, an innocent that they had lost a few months ago thanks to The Source's assassin, Shax, who they still needed to pay back for what he had done, she added it to her mental to do list.

"Ok, so what? He wants an interview?"

"Maybe that and more, just listen out for his phone call ok?"

"Sure, and Darryl, thanks for the heads up".

"No problem, talk to you soon Prue".

They hung up and Prue carried on with her lunch, her favorite, a no mayo turkey sandwich.

As she ate she thought about what Darryl had said, about someone being suspicious about a lost innocent, it wasn't the first time something like this had happened but it didn't stop her from worrying, dig deep enough and eventually you'll find something, she made another note on her to do list, human proof the manor, i.e. somehow hide all the magical items they had. Then again they could always just have Piper freeze him if he found something, thinking about that reminded her of when Andy was searching the manor for a lost tiara, Piper had to keep freezing him whilst Phoebe hid it somewhere else, all thanks to Rex and Hannah, who Prue did not feel much hatred towards now after they had sacrificed themselves to help the sisters save Phoebe, I hope they're somewhere nice now she thought as she finished her lunch and picked up her bag, she had some equipment to drop off in the car before she resumed the shoot.

As she made her way across the park and under some trees she felt a presence behind her, she turned and came almost face to face with Chip.

"You forgot something, witch" he snarled as he threw an energy ball at her chest.

Prue went sailing through the air and landed in a crumpled heap at the base of a tree.

"I knew you were too useless to be human!" Prue yelled as she stood.

Chip threw another energy ball, but this time Prue was ready, she raised her hand and deflected it, sending it back the way it came, but Chip dodged it at the last minute.

Prue was surprised, he had looked like someone out of The Matrix evading that attack.

Time to get physical, she thought as she astral projected right in front of Chip, raising her arm to punch him around the face, but he caught her fist, twisted her arm and kicked her in the stomach knocking her back down. She wasn't going down that easily, she stood and flipped over him, kicking him in the back of the legs as she landed, he fell hard and she kicked him in the stomach. Knocking the breath out of him.

"Since my sister was kidnapped, I always carry one of these" Prue yelled as she produced an athame and bought it home into Chip's chest, he screamed as his body set alight and fell to ash, leaving a small patch of charred grass in its wake.

Prue didn't know where she'd be without her fighting skills, she had survived without them but it wasn't until she had been cursed with the empath power last year that she had somehow hacked into Vinceres' and Phoebe's emotions and copied their fighting skills, she still had no idea how that worked but she wasn't going to complain, they certainly had their uses.

What a strange demon Prue thought, he had fake college documents, gotten into an internship and somehow made his way to her, she hadn't really encountered demons with espionage as a main skill before, seemed like an awful lot of trouble, demons were usually less subtle.

She'd ask Leo about it later she decided as she went to carry on with her photoshoot. Luckily she managed to digitally edit the charred grass to look alive.

Piper got out the shower and made her way back to her bedroom to get ready for the day, she loved the shower, she always felt like her troubles were sliding off her with the water running down into the plughole.

She wished Leo was here, but he'd had to orb off somewhere last night to help one of his charges, she had to kind of admit, she hated her husband's job, he could be gone for days at a time and he wasn't even paid for it, she realized he was doing good work, great work in fact, but it didn't change the fact that she missed him.

She dried and put some clothes on, a black long sleeved shirt with a pair of brown leather pants, she looked pretty good she thought as she made her way downstairs, she saw that Prue had left the paper on the counter with the ready-made coffee, God bless older sisters Piper thought as she poured herself a cup. She turned to the food and culture section of the paper, she always liked to see if there were any new recipes she could use for her cooking.

For all the stress it gave her she actually missed her job at Quake, the restaurant she had managed for a while, at least she got to be close to food there but whilst she loved P3, it was just a club, and she didn't get to fulfil her dream of being a professional chef.

One day she thought, one day. When The Source was finally gone and they could go back to having semi-normal lives. She didn't ever want to stop being a witch, helping people was in her blood, but she'd definitely like to open her own place one day.

She shook herself out of the fantasy and made herself a muffin to go. She was already running late and she needed to set up P3 for a cool gig tonight, a bunch of local bands were coming to play to raise money for charity, it not only was a good cause but made her club look good as well.

Just as she was about to reach the front door Leo orbed down in front of her smiling like a Cheshire cat.

"Hey there wife" he said.

Piper smiled, "hey there husband".

She drew him into a hug and pulled him out the door with her.

"Where we going?" he asked.

"Gotta get to P3 to set up" Piper said hurriedly as she threw her bag onto the back seat.

They had been driving for about ten minutes when Leo piped up, "How's Phoebe doing?"

Piper sighed, it was a sore subject, Phoebe hadn't been doing great.

"She's getting there, I think, yesterday she actually came down to the kitchen to get a sandwich all by herself".

"Ahh", Leo said, nodding his head.

"Progress" he stated.

"Yep, sort of" Piper grimaced.

"So yesterday I met with a charge, because they needed my help, it was two witches who had just had a baby with the power to go invisible" he said.

"Wow, must be hard work" Piper said.

"Well it made me think that when we have kids, we should bind their powers".

Piper smashed down on the break in the middle of the road.

"What?!" she yelled.

Leo shrank back, suddenly wary of the subject.

Piper calmed herself down and said in her deadliest, quietest voice.

"No way, not gonna happen".

"I think, we should discuss this" Leo said.

"There's nothing to discuss, magic is a gift Leo, imagine how much more prepared we'd be right now if we'd had our powers since birth".

"The difference being that our child will be raised around three witches who have their powers, and can teach the child".

"What exactly will we be teaching it if it hasn't got any powers?" Piper questioned.

"Because you can teach it without the fear of it orbing out to Thailand every time you scold them" Leo insisted.

"End of discussion Leo, not gonna happen".

"Ok, well what about this? Say our kid inherits Phoebe's power of premonition, and grows up having visions every day of people dying and disaster, and since they're a child they won't be able to do anything about it because they'll be stuck in school" Leo raised his eyebrows. He knew he had gotten the upper hand.

"I see your point Leo, I really do, but why are we even talking about this? We aren't even trying yet, were no one where near that, and I agree with you, if the baby has premonitions then we will find some way to stop them until they're older, happy?"

Leo nodded and sighed, he hadn't meant the debate to get so heated.

"I gotta go" he said and orbed out the car just as Piper reached P3.

Piper hung her head, she hated arguing with Leo, especially about this topic, they hadn't even really discussed kids yet, they both knew one was coming at some point thanks to going to the future and meeting her, but she could come along at any time. And probably not any time soon if the way things were going were the way they were going to stay.

She entered the club and walked down the stairs to see that the club had pretty much all been set up already, thank the heavens for her new assistant manager Wally. He had been a God send thought Piper. He had been so helpful since Phoebe had gone missing, essentially running the place for her. She owed that guy a raise for sure.

She went to the locker room to put her stuff away, she opened the door and an energy ball came hurtling out the room and into her face, knocking her backwards and into the bar.

"What the hell?" Piper murmured to herself as she got up.

She looked into the locker room, it was Wally. Bright red hair and freckles. He had been such a great help over the last few weeks, and he was a demon.

Of course Piper thought as she dusted off her hands.

"I really have to hand it you Piper, you really are a schmuck" he smiled.

"You work for The Source?" he asked, slowly making her way to him.

"Something like that" he answered.

"I didn't think it would be so easy to get this close to a Charmed One, but you're all so gullible I don't even know why I was worried" he sneered.

"You think you know so much?" she asked.

"You're wrong" she stated as she threw up her hands, Wally had frozen.

She had been meaning to blow him up but her power was so unpredictable these days, she concentrated hard, her trigger for freezing was usually fear, so what did she feel when blowing things up? She thought for a while, when she blew up the banshee she had been stressed, and when she blew up the door that led to the furies she had been feeling the same thing, well, she had had no shortage of the stress feeling lately, she concentrated and channelled that emotion into her being and threw up her hands, nothing happened for about five seconds but then Wally unfroze, started bulging and then blew up into flames.

She had done it, she gave herself a little cheer, she had finally learnt the trigger to her exploding power.

Such a shame though, she thought, now she had to find a new assistant manager.

Phoebe was in bed, she had been there a lot lately, the comfy pillows, the security of a blanket, so much nicer than a hard cage floor, her back was still sore from the amount of time she'd spent in it.

Not that she was a psychology expert or anything, but she thought maybe she was suffering some kind of PTSD, at least that's what Prue had suggested the other day, that she go and see someone about what had happened. The conversation hadn't gone well.

She sighed as she thought back to it.

"What am I supposed to do Prue? Tell the doctor I was trapped in a cage for two months whilst being tortured by The Source of all Evil?" she'd yelled as Prue walked away with tears in her eyes.

She was only trying to help, Phoebe knew that, but she wasn't one to admit when she desperately needed saving. Damsel in distress she wasn't, though a point could be argued that recently, she was.

More than anything she missed Cole, her sisters had told her that he had a part to play in saving her but they hadn't seen him since, so he was probably dead, or captured.

She knew she should be up and about and seeing what she could do about that but she felt so lethargic, like she just couldn't muster up any energy.

She'd also been having more nightmares, if she was honest that was the real reason she'd been keeping herself to herself, The Source had done something to her, something to make her almost fearful of her sisters, even though they had risked everything to save her, she felt so guilty and ashamed.

"What do I do with myself" she wondered aloud.

"You get up off that behind and find yourself some action" a voice echoed around her room.

Phoebe sat up bolt right, "huh?" she said aloud.

A mass of white orbs gathered in the centre of her room, clustering together to form a familiar figure, Grams.

"Not the best time Grams, I have self-pitying and sleeping to do".

"Yes I've been watching, me and your mother have been extremely worried about you my darling, but its time you got back on the horse".

"Grams, I don't really wanna talk about sex with you, no offence but I have a boyfriend, had".

"I'm not talking about sex silly, I mean any kind of action! Some demon fighting, saving an innocent, like the good old days".

"Oh, the good old days of almost three months ago you mean?" Phoebe questioned sarcastically.

"Phoebe" Grams said in that gentle voice, "you need to get back out there, find yourself again".

"You'll never live if you don't".

"But I don't know how, I can't face Prue or Piper, I feel guilty enough as it is."

"Guilty over what?" Grams said, concerned.

"It's nothing, I'm fine" Phoebe slumped back down.

"We both know you're not sweetheart, don't lie to yourself, but don't let it control you, don't let HIM control you".

"Good luck" she faded away as she blew Phoebe a kiss.

Phoebe sat back up, contemplating what her grandmother had said to her.

She was right.

Phoebe threw back the covers and got up, changed out of her pyjamas for the first time in two weeks and went downstairs. She was alone. She let out her breath in relief.

She could do some cleaning she thought. No, I hate cleaning, she decided, not doing that.

She looked out the front door window, hmmm.

She decided to put on some sneakers and go for a walk, maybe some air would clear her head.

She'd been thinking and pondering for so long she didn't even realise she'd made it to downtown, she supposed she could look at some store fronts and do some window shopping.

She had just made it to a clothing store she particularly liked to visit when she bumped into a brunette woman making her way out the store, the young woman dropped her purse and the contents poured all over the sidewalk. Why does this always happen to me? Phoebe thought.

"I'm so sorry" she said to the woman as she looked her in the face, she looked kind of familiar, maybe she had seen her around before.

"It's cool, don't worry about it" The girl said as she picked up an assortment of items off the ground, some lipstick, some gum, a bottle of water and a lollipop.

"These will rot your teeth ya'know" Phoebe said as she handed the lollipop back over.

"Haha, you sound like my colleague at work" the girl chuckled.

"Well your colleague is right!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Well, thanks for the help and everything" the girl said as she walked off.

Phoebe turned back round to look at her, there was something familiar about her that she just couldn't shake. She shrugged to herself, no big deal, everything happens for a reason she thought as she made her way into the store.

"Phoebe, haven't seen you in ages" squealed the clerk behind the counter, her name was Daisy and she loved to show Phoebe all the new collections.

"Yeah I've been out of town a while".

"Are you ok?" she asked, "You look tired".

"Aww I'm ok, just a long trip" Phoebe said.

"Anywhere nice?" Daisy asked.

"You could say it was pretty hot" Phoebe smiled to herself.

"Not as hot as you're gonna be" Daisy snarled as she raised her hand and threw a fireball straight at Phoebe.

Phoebe ducked and rolled under a display of clothes on wire racks.

She couldn't believe it, Daisy a demon? She had been coming here for years.

"I know you're there witch, come out of hiding!" the demon yelled.

Ok then Phoebe thought as she rolled out the other side and kicked Daisy hard in the ankle.

She went down on the floor but let off a fireball, Phoebe levitated into the air to dodge it as it sailed past her and hit the ceiling. The smoke from the fireball set off the sprinkler system, oh great Phoebe thought as she landed back down soaking wet.

Daisy stood and let off another fireball, only for it to sizzle and vanish half way across the room in the water.

"Dammit!" Daisy shouted as she lunged at Phoebe, dragging her down on the floor, Phoebe levitated off the ground and propelled her elbow down into Daisy's stomach making her scream in agony.

"Guess I'm not hot anymore" Phoebe said as she grabbed a hanger off the rack and bent it out of shape to use as a weapon.

"You'll pay for this witch, she'd not gonna be too pleased with you!"

She? Phoebe wondered, did they have ANOTHER demon after them now besides The Source?

Phoebe didn't waste any more time and ran to Daisy, regretfully plunging the sharp hanger into her neck.

No amount of sprinkler water could stop Daisy from exploding in a bright orange haze of fire.

Phoebe left the store, now soaking wet.

She made her way home, she had been hours. And now she needed a hot bath and her blankets back, socializing quota for the day fulfilled she thought as she walked back into the manor, only to find Prue and Piper waiting for her on the living room couch.

"There you are!" Prue said as she jumped up, looking worried.

"What's wrong with your hair?" Piper asked "it looks like straw".

"Well, if you must know I went for a walk and got attacked by a demon".

"The Source?" Prue asked.

"Nope, a she demon, who also mentioned that another she demon might possibly be after us".

"Great, like we don't have enough problems" Piper said.

"Did she say anything else?" Prue checked.

"Nope". Phoebe replied.

"Well me and Piper were also attacked by demons today" Prue continued.

"Damn, it's a conspiracy" Phoebe said.

"Ok then, well you know who we need to call" Piper said knowledgeably.

"Ghostbusters?" Phoebe said.

"Cute" Prue giggled.

"No" Piper said hastily.

Almost as though they could read each other's minds, they all looked up at the ceiling.

"Leo!"

Cole laughed, he had watched the whole thing, he knew she would fail, he told her so before she even tried.

"You really think you can stop them?" he asked The Seer as she turned to him, smiling.

"You are my prisoner, and you will speak when spoken too" she spat as she slapped him around the face.

It stung, but he'd faced worse.

"You're way out of your league Seer, don't forget I told you that before you embarked on your little suicide mission".

"Oh Belthazor, you don't know a thing, I have a plan that will wipe them all out, including you" she sneered as she turned away to seek the serenity of her visions.

"Soon, I will be the ultimate power in this universe", "And all from the comfort of my own home" she laughed.

Cole looked around at the ground, perplexed, "You really think this is comfortable?"

End of Chapter Three, stay tuned for Chapter Four: "Operation: Rescue Cole".


	4. Operation: Rescue Cole

Charmed Reborn Chapter Four: "Operation: Rescue Cole"

The Source flamed into The Seer's chambers, furious.

"Come out Seer" he bellowed.

The Seer materialized in a haze of indigo light, worried that he had discovered her plan somehow.

"My liege?"

"How long before you were going to tell me?" he demanded.

"Tell you what?" she asked innocently.

The Source lowered his voice to a deadly whisper, "how long before you were going to tell me that you had Belthazor?" he asked.

"I was saving him my liege, saving him for when we might need him" The Seer stammered.

"I see", "well, prepare him, for now is the time".

"Prepare him for what oh evil one?" The Seer questioned.

"Prepare him" he said with a smile.

"For bait".

Phoebe sat in the kitchen, thumbing through the Book of Shadows, she found it therapeutic, something to keep her mind off her problems, she liked to go through and see which demons they'd vanquished, which innocents they'd saved, it helped clear her mind.

Until today, when she came across the page for Belthazor, she sighed, she missed Cole so much, she smiled as she looked at the opposite page where she had stuck photos of them together, and written about his human hobbies, it felt like such a long time ago, even though it had just been a few months.

She used her fingers to trace the photos, remembering how happy they were, how happy they could be, maybe one day she thought.

As she was about to flip the page, Phoebe gasped as she felt a chill, she recognised the familiar sensation of a premonition and was sucked into a vision, in which she saw Cole chained up against a pillar, it looked like some kind of temple, thought she couldn't be sure, the vision zoomed her outside the temple and showed a sign saying "Tao-Long's Buddhist Temple".

She gasped as she was thrown out the vision, it had been so long since she'd had one that she had almost forgotten what it felt like.

"Prue!" Phoebe yelled as she ran out the kitchen carrying the book.

"What is it?" Prue said as she came running down the stairs.

"I just had a vision".

Phoebe explained what she'd seen to her sister.

"We have to get Piper, she's at work" Prue said.

"I'll go" she added as she lowered her head and astral projected.

Piper was enjoying an intimate time with Leo, he had orbed in about a half hour ago and they were having some adult fun in the store room, she'd had to vanquish her assistant manager so no one else was at work yet.

Leo was great with his hands, she found herself thinking as he made his way across her stomach, just about to hit a home run when….

"Prue!" Piper gasped as her sister astral projected behind Leo.

Both Piper and Leo scurried to put their clothes back on and look presentable whilst Prue just stood there laughing.

"Are you offering drinks with this new Rated R deal you've got going on Piper?" Prue asked devilishly.

"Shut it" she spat, "how many times, please ring, or email or anything before you do that". Piper pleaded as she zipped up her boots.

"So no one interrupts the show?" Prue questioned.

Piper sighed, why did her older sister have to be such a smartass?

"Why are you here Prue?" Leo asked.

"Phoebe had a vision, of Cole".

"I see" Piper said, "and is he, ok?" she asked.

"According to Phoebe he was alive in the vision, but we're not sure how much longer for". Prue answered, disdain in her voice.

Piper gave her a look, she knew that Prue didn't like Cole very much, but to be honest it was probably because they were so alike Piper thought, though she'd never say that to Prue for risk of losing an arm.

"Ok, go, we'll close up and orb back to the manor".

Prue nodded and projected back to her body.

"They're on their way" Prue said to Phoebe as she aligned back with her physical body.

"Good" Phoebe half-smiled, any help would be appreciated she thought.

Tao Long's temple was a bit of a rip-off of the real thing, one side of it was an ancient temple, the other a restaurant and a kids play area with a ball pit, not exactly a great place for actual Buddhists to practice their religion. And it was about to get much worse.

Families sat at the restaurant trying ancient Tibetan cuisine, tasting the succulent dishes and paying their respects to the statues of the Buddha, giving money where possible to attract good fortune to themselves.

Outside the front entrance an army of demons were making their way across the street, towards the temple, led by three individuals, The Source, The Seer, and, chained up and gagged, Cole.

The Source waited just outside the door with his two guests and called back to the army of demons.

"Go".

The demons rushed in and for the next five minutes, all you could hear where the sounds of slaughter as the evil doers slayed every living thing within.

A demon walked out, "it is done my liege".

"Good" The Source replied.

He walked inside the temple and raised his head to take in the scene, it was beautiful he thought, the bodies and the blood, how he missed his more active days of killing.

"Over here" he pointed to a pillar in the centre of the room.

Several demons grabbed Cole and chained him up around it, not leaving him much room to move or breathe.

"Now, wait". The Source ordered.

He gestured to The Seer to walk with him into the back kitchens, as they walked in sync he asked her, "You think they'll fall for it?"

"Who knows how good witches really think?" The Seer asked back.

The Source laughed, "You have always been good company Seer, always by my side, always helping me succeed, do not think your efforts go unnoticed, one day you will be rewarded greatly".

The Seer smiled, "It means a lot to me that you think that my liege, I live to serve".

Myself, she thought as they flamed out back to the underworld to await news.

"Come on Phoebe, this smells trap and you know it" Piper exclaimed for the fifth time.

"I know that Piper but we can't just let Cole rot, he helped you guys save me after all".

"Yes, that I know, we all know, but would he thank us now for getting you captured again by walking into such an obvious trap?" Piper asked.

"She does make a good point Phoebe" Leo said in his calming voice.

It didn't work.

"Well of course you'd say that you're the husband!" Phoebe snapped, "If it isn't one of us or our Whitelighter then who cares about the half-demon right guys?"

Phoebe backed off and walked off to sit in grams' old armchair.

"That wasn't fair Phoebe" Piper said.

"You know we want to save Cole, I'm just saying we need to be smart about this that's all".

"Don't play their game, play our own" Piper concluded.

Phoebe sighed and lowered her head into her hands, taking big breaths to try to calm down.

"Anything Prue?" Piper asked her other sister as she looked through the book.

"Well, there's a weird looking potion here that apparently melts the skin off of foes" she pointed out.

"That's strange, a potion like that shouldn't be in the book" Leo frowned as he read.

"Well, it must have been put there for us to use" Piper shrugged.

"I certainly wouldn't mind seeing The Source with an even more melted face" Phoebe yelled from across the room.

Prue smiled. "I think I've found something even better".

Phoebe walked over and looked down at the book along with Piper and Leo, they all let out a sigh.

"I don't think this is a good idea" Piper said.

"It screwed us last time".

"It saved my ass last time Piper" Prue said as she reasoned with her younger sibling.

"I'm all for it" Phoebe piped up.

"You are?" Piper questioned, shocked.

"Yes, they'll never see it coming, you're right, it's probably is a trap, but this would be like a counter-trap".

Prue looked up from the book at Piper. "Sorry sis, majority rules".

The three witches chanted together in unison.

"Take my powers, blessed be,

Multiply their strength by three".

Cole looked around the darkening room, it was rapidly approaching evening and he was getting more and more anxious the more time went on, he knew they would come for him and he was terrified of what could happen. He couldn't lose Phoebe again, they'd been through too much.

He tried his shackles again, still too tight, no way he was going to break out of them, not without help anyway.

Just at that moment he felt a cold breeze, at first he mistook it for the wind, but then he felt his shackles loosening somewhat, he could just about make out an almost invisible outline of a person, someone was helping him, but who? He couldn't tell.

Now he had to wait, he couldn't take on the dozens of demons surrounding him so he had to wait for the sisters to show up.

"You sure this is the place?" Leo said as he and the sisters orbed in front of the temple.

"Yeah, definitely" Phoebe replied.

"Ok, let's go save Cole now because I need him, like now" Phoebe smiled seductively.

"God I hate this spell" Piper said as she followed her sisters up the path.

"It always goes wrong, everything always goes wrong, we can't escape it!" Piper was struggling to breathe as she ranted.

"Eurgh, why did we get lumbered with this one" Phoebe pointed at Piper.

"She is such a downer".

Piper glared at her younger sister.

"Well excuse me Phoebe but I'm sorry that I'm the only one concerned for our well-being here!" Piper yelled.

"Piper?" Prue asked.

"What?" She replied.

"Don't you think that maybe all the yelling you're doing will attract the attention of the hordes of demons probably waiting inside?" She said innocently.

Piper sighed and took a deep breath.

"Fine", "Let's go" she said.

"Ok then, follow me, busy, busy, busy is my middle name you know" Prue smiled as she led the charge up the path.

"Why did I get stuck with the annoying ones?" Phoebe whispered to herself.

"Maybe we should be a bit more stealthy?" Leo suggested as Prue waved her arm and the doors flew off the hinges.

Too late he thought.

Leo gasped. He had seen war before, but this was sickening, bodies and blood all over the floor, some on tables, and in the very centre, Cole.

"Yes finally!" Phoebe exclaimed as she ran to the pillar.

"My loins have been calling for you" she said as she tried to rip off the shackles but only managed to remove the gag.

Cole looked perplexed and could only manage a "Huh?"

Piper made a gagging noise in disgust whilst her and Prue followed Phoebe.

"This place looks kind of empty" Leo said as he looked around.

"Aside from the obvious" he said as he looked down at a dead chef.

Cole seemed mad.

"What are you doing just walking through the front door like that?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah don't worry" Piper said.

"We've got it all worked out" Prue smiled as she waved her hand and made all the chains and shackles fly off Cole's arms and legs.

Phoebe grabbed Cole's arm and began to drag him into the store room.

"You can just wait outside if you want" she said as she pointed to the front of the temple.

"Phoebe what has gotten into you?" Cole asked, worried.

"We'll explain everything later" Piper said.

"But we have to go".

"Leo?" she gestured to her husband to hold hands with her so they could all orb out, but before they could an energy ball came sailing through the air and hit Leo in the chest, sending him flying back against the far wall.

The group turned around to see a whole plethora of demons shimmer into the temple, all with nasty, smiling looks on their faces.

"Ooh, party time" Prue said, strangely excited.

Phoebe whispered to Piper. "Do you think any of those demons are single?"

Piper kicked her younger sister on the ankle.

"Ok girls, time to go to work" Prue said as she jumped up onto the restaurant bar, kicking a demon in the face, then proceeding to jump down, grab a wine bottle, shatter it and shove the end of it down into the demons stomach, ending him in a flashfire.

Piper turned around to look for Leo, she made it about half way across the room before two demons grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her onto the floor, she hit her head, seeing stars, one of the demons got on top of her and began to strangle her, an energy ball hit the demon in the head and he exploded, Piper got up and nodded thanks to Cole.

The other demon was making his way to Leo.

"I knew this would all go wrong!" she shouted as she raised her hands an attempted to blow the demon up, but instead set him on fire.

"Huh?" Piper said in confusion as the demon withered away into ash.

"I'll take it" she nodded.

Cole spun around, he was weak but he would still put up a fight no matter what, he couldn't see Phoebe anywhere, he looked up as he heard her voice. She was up in the air one on one fighting a demon who was also levitating, they traded blow for blow until Phoebe spun around in the air and kicked the demon in the chest, knocking him to the ground, Cole raised his arm and let loose an energy ball to finish him off.

Prue was in the kitchens now, killing as many demons as she could, she counted at least five still in front of her, she didn't care about the odds, she knew she could win. She raised her hand and sent two demons flying to the back of the kitchen whilst she focused on the other three, she grabbed a rolling pin and whacked a demon round the head knocking him to the floor, then she used her power to spin the utensil through the air and another demon sunk to the ground with a blow to the head, that just left her and another to duke it out.

He raised his fist and went for her face, she grabbed it mid-way and hit him back with the fist, causing him to roar in rage.

"Die bitch!" he yelled as he raised his arm and sent a lightning bolt into her and through the kitchen doors.

She landed in Cole's arms as he caught her.

Prue looked down at her wound, it was bad, the bolt had sliced right though her left shoulder, blood pouring out, Cole looked helpless as he looked down at her dying body.

"Leo!" he shouted but it was no good, he was still unconscious.

Prue grabbed Cole and lowered his face to hers.

"Get them out of here" she whispered.

Her eyes fluttered and shut as she died.

Phoebe flew back to the ground, she couldn't wait to get Cole alone, she looked across the room, who was that he was holding, oh, just bossy Prue she thought as she carried on with the fight, she grabbed a steak knife off a table and stabbed it through a demons neck, sending him up in flames.

There weren't many demons left now, three walked out from the kitchen and Piper had just froze one that had been walking towards Leo.

They regrouped by Cole as Piper dragged Leo with her.

"Girls, I'm sorry, there was nothing I could do" Cole spluttered as they reached him.

"Yeah whatever" Piper said.

"I didn't like that one anyway" Phoebe shrugged.

Cole looked more confused than ever.

"Don't you two understand? Your sister is dead!" he shouted.

"We got one of them" the demon that had killed Prue cheered.

The remaining demons whelped and applauded but stopped as a gust of wind swept through the room, chilling them all to the bone.

"Uh oh" Piper murmured.

A large tornado appeared in the centre of the room, covering everyone in dust and dead body parts.

"Yuck" Phoebe exclaimed as the tornado receded.

It was Shax. The Source's personal assassin.

"I've come to finish the job" he said in his deep voice.

He smiled evilly as he looked at Prue's dead body.

"I don't think so ass-hat" Piper yelled as she raised her hands and blew Shax up like she had before, she knew it wasn't permanent but it was better than facing him now with a witch down.

"Can you get us all out of here?" Phoebe asked Cole.

"I can try" he nodded as the group took hands, Piper leaning down to touch Prue and Leo's shoulders.

"Don't let them get away!" a demon shouted.

But it was too late, the group shimmered out of the temple and back to the manor.

The group rematerialized into the living room, Cole went to pick up Prue's body only for it to fade out of existence.

"Huh?" he asked as he raised his eyes to Phoebe and Piper, only for them to fade away as well.

"Someone wanna explain this to me?" he asked thin air.

"Oh, I think we can help with that" Phoebe's voice came from the conservatory.

Cole lifted the still out cold Leo onto the sofa and made his way to the voice.

He walked in to find all three sisters perfectly fine, lounging on the couches and chairs.

"Is Leo all right?" Piper asked worriedly as she looked behind Cole.

"Oh, he's fine, just unconscious".

"So?" Cole asked, still confused.

"That wasn't really us" Phoebe confirmed as Cole smiled.

"Thank God" Cole breathed a sigh of relief

"I thought it was all over when Prue died" he said smiling.

"Yeah, I felt it, I'll never get used to that pain" Prue said sadly.

"We used a spell to make doubles, albeit doubles with specific personality traits" Phoebe continued.

"I thought something was up" Cole said.

"You were way too frisky" he said as he looked at Phoebe.

"Yeah, well that part of me hasn't had much of chance to come out recently" Phoebe winked at him.

"Ew" Piper said as she rose from the chair to go and see Leo.

"You didn't happen to cast an invisibility spell as well did you?" Cole asked.

"Invisibility spell?" Prue frowned as she asked.

"Just before the not-you's came in to save me I saw something, a cloaked figure, cloaked in terms of them being invisible come towards me and loosen my chains, or at least take away the magic keeping them bound to me".

"Other Prue would never have been able to just wave her hand and have them fly off if the proper protections were still on them".

Phoebe looked at Prue, eyebrows raised.

They both turned back around to Cole.

"Not any of us" Phoebe said.

"That's what I was afraid of" Cole smirked.

A few blocks away a young boy was just waking up for the day, he yawned as he threw off his blankets and got dressed.

He liked his new foster parents. They didn't yell at him much though they had seemed to be getting more and more anxious lately, he supposed that's just what caring parents were supposed to be like.

They didn't yell at him much. Until today.

A large knock at his bedroom door startled him, he opened the door and saw his foster mother standing there, looking thunderous.

"You're gonna be late for school, get a move on!" she shouted.

"You don't have to get mad, I thought you were gonna wake me up" he countered.

"Don't speak to me like you little rat!" she yelled and made to lunge for him.

The boy jumped back, suddenly scared, he had developed a painful headache that felt like his head was burning.

"We take you in and this is the thanks we get you ungrateful wretch!" the woman yelled as she stepped into the room.

"Please don't, you're scaring me" the boy yelled.

He placed his hands either side of his head, in so much pain.

All of a sudden the pain vanished, at the same time a huge wall of flame sprung up from the ground, separating him from his foster mother.

He turned around and ran to his bedroom window, climbed down the skirting and ran down the street, trying to get away and make sense of what had just happened.

He could faintly hear his foster parents yelling his name.

"Tyler!"

End of Chapter Four, stay tuned for Chapter Five: "South Bay Social Services".


	5. South Bay Social Services

Charmed Reborn Chapter Five: "South Bay Social Services"

"I really, REALLY appreciate the offer Mr Corso but I'm just not sure I can do this right now" Prue said sadly.

"Ms Halliwell, Prue. I can see you struggling with some kind of inner turmoil here, let me tell you, the only thing stopping you from doing this, is you".

"In 48 hours I expect to see you on that plane, got it?" he said with finality.

"Ok" Prue found herself saying.

She had been offered an amazing opportunity to go and take photos at some minor royal wedding in England, apparently the Lady whateverhernamewas saw the shoot she'd done on the bridal dresses and wanted her to take the snaps for her wedding, it would be great international promotion for the magazine and her boss wouldn't take no for an answer.

Now she had to break the news to her sisters, she was sure they'd be ok with it, but things had been pretty chaotic lately, she didn't want to just up and leave if it meant leaving them in the lurch.

"Are you crazy?!" Piper exploded.

"We've got evil demons crawling out of our asses right now, we just got Cole and Phoebe back and you want to leave?"

"I don't see why it's a big deal" Leo piped up.

Piper whirled round at her husband, of course he'd side with anyone other than her today, they had had another argument last night about binding their future child's powers.

Leo shrugged.

Piper grimaced and turned back round to face Prue.

"I just mean, this couldn't have come at a worse time" she continued.

"Don't you think I know that Piper?" Prue asked.

"I know this is sucky timing, but this is a huge opportunity for me, we can't be all magic all the time". Prue tried to explain.

"That's rich considering how hell bent you were on taking down evil last year" Piper quipped.

Prue nodded slowly, "I know that last year was hectic, and maybe I got a tad obsessed".

"HA!" Piper yelped.

"Ok, maybe a LOT obsessed, but I was just trying to protect us and it's not like I'll be gone for long, just a couple of days, and if you need me Cole can shimmer, Leo can orb, heck I could just astral project, I haven't tried it from that far away before but it should work right?" Prue aimed the last question at Leo.

"It should" he agreed.

Piper rolled her eyes.

"Fine, guess I'll have to break the news to Phoebe" Piper said as she began to climb the stairs.

She knocked on Phoebe's door and let herself in.

"Oh My God Piper!" Phoebe yelled as her and Cole dived under the covers.

Piper averted her eyes.

"Damn, now I know why Prue finds this so funny" she said barely able to hide her giggling.

"Anyways, I need to talk to you, like now" she said as she turned her head to Cole and made a get the hell out gesture.

"I guess that's my cue" he said as he shimmered out.

Phoebe turned her head to Piper, clearly annoyed.

"Well?" she demanded.

Piper explained the conversation she had just had with Prue, completely expecting Phoebe to agree with her.

Phoebe shrugged, "So what, just let the bitch go" she said nonchalantly.

"You two have a falling out?" Piper asked tentatively.

Phoebe shook her head and seemed to compose herself.

"Huh, I don't know why I said that".

"We all get off days Phoebs" Piper said.

"Yeah but I didn't even want to say that".

Piper and Phoebe stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Well, I guess I'll tell Prue you're ok with it?"

"Sure, she has my blessing, it's not for another couple days yet anyway right?"

"Right" Piper agreed.

As soon as Piper shut the bedroom door she heard the sounds of laughter and glee erupt from Phoebe's room, Cole must have shimmered back in.

She was worried. Phoebe hadn't seemed like herself recently, I guess she's still stressed from being held captive for too long. It's only natural she thought as she made her way downstairs to talk to Prue.

A couple hours later Phoebe left Cole in bed and made her way downstairs to get something to eat, she was happier than she'd felt in weeks. But something was still off, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it, it's like she had Tourette's syndrome, and she kept saying and doing things rashly, without thinking.

She walked into the kitchen to find Piper making some lunch.

"Want a sandwich?" she asked as Phoebe walked in.

"Sure, what's in it?

"Chicken, figured you could use the protein for stamina" Piper said sarcastically.

Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"Ha-ha Piper, very funny, now gimme" she pointed to the sandwich.

Phoebe noticed the TV on behind Piper, "Anything good?"

"Nah, well there was a story about a fire downtown but that's about it" Piper summarized.

Just as Piper finished talking the story about the fire popped up again, Phoebe looked up at the screen and noticed a picture of a little blond boy who had lived at the burnt down house and was currently missing.

She grabbed the edge of the table top as she was thrown into a premonition, in it she saw the little boy, running down an ally and being confronted by a male and a female demon, they pointed their hands at him and he froze, literally in ice, the vision zoomed out to show a building, "South Bay Social Services" right by the alley.

Phoebe came back out of the vision and looked immediately to Piper who had realised what Phoebe had been experiencing, after all this time they all recognised the signs.

"Well?" Piper asked.

"I saw a little boy, that little boy" Phoebe said as she pointed at the TV screen.

"He was outside a social services building, being attacked by demons".

"Then we gotta get their fast".

The girls threw on jackets and ran to the front door.

"I'll call Prue in the car" Phoebe said.

They didn't get far however as someone was already waiting on the front porch.

"Ladies" the man said.

"Uh, can we help you?" Piper asked.

The man fumbled in his jacket pocket before pulling out a badge, he held it up to them which told them that he was Inspector Cortez.

"We've met before…" he said.

"Oh, of course, inspector! I'm so sorry, it's been so long" Piper said sheepishly.

She HAD met him before, she'd just forgotten, this had been the officer who had interviewed her and Prue after the death of Dr Griffiths.

"Uh, can this wait cos we're kind of in a hurry" Phoebe said.

"I'm sorry it can't, your friend Morris has kept me away for as long as he can but not anymore, something fishy is going on here and I'm gonna find out what" he finished.

"I don't believe we've met" he said looking at Phoebe.

"Nope, I've been out of town for a while, but got back recently".

"Uh-huh, convenient".

Piper glared at him, "Well like my sister said, we really are in a hurry, so unless you have a warrant?" she asked.

The Inspector looked annoyed, "I will have".

And with that he walked off back to his car.

"I forget Prue said this guy might be trying to get us" Piper whispered.

"Get us for what?" Phoebe wondered.

"That's what I'm afraid of".

Prue had just gotten off the phone with Phoebe, she had had a vision of a little boy being attacked by demons, she hated it when it was kids, adults she could handle, but children were usually even more innocent, luckily she wasn't far from the social services and had quickly called Darryl to meet her there just in case she needed his help to cut through red tape.

As she pulled into the parking lot she saw that Darryl was already waiting by his car, she pulled up next to him.

"Thanks for meeting me here Darryl" she said as she grabbed her bag and got out.

"No worries, I was about 20 miles from the neighbourhood anyway" he laughed.

Prue giggled, there was something about Darryl that she found so reassuring, he just that kind of voice that you could use and convince anyone of anything, he should do audio books she thought as they made their way to the entrance of the social services.

They approached the reception desk and were met with a very smiley secretary.

"How can I help you?" she asked politely.

Prue nudged Darryl to speak first.

"We were wondering if you had seen a little kid today, a boy with blonde hair?" he asked.

"And you are?"

Darryl held out his bade to show her. She flushed.

"Oh, Inspector, I'm so sorry, yes we have had a boy like that come in today, he's just being interviewed now by Mr Cowan, I can take you through…"she started to say before noticing Prue.

"Oh, she's with me, junior Inspector" he added as they walked through reception.

Prue shot daggers with her eyes into the back of Darry's head.

Junior my ass she thought.

The secretary walked them up to an office and started to knock before the door was thrown wide open and a tall brunette woman walked out, she looked angry.

"I don't think you should have called his parents" the woman said.

The man who could only have been Mr Cowan replied "Well luckily it's not up to you, you're just an assistant, so do your job and assist me ok?"

The woman began to storm off to a room in the back.

"And Ms Matthews, have those photocopies on my desk by 3".

Prue could tell the woman had heard by the resounding echo of a slammed door in the back somewhere.

The woman seemed kind of familiar Prue thought as she walked into the office with Darryl.

"Hello Mr Cowan I'm Inspector Morris with the SFPD and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the young boy who was bought in today".

"Well there's not much to tell really, you saw the news report?" he asked the duo.

They both nodded.

"Well that's all he's been willing to tell us as well, that and his name".

"Which is?" Prue asked.

"Tyler" Mr Cowan replied.

"Would it be ok if I talked to him?"

"I don't see why not, his foster parents should be here soon".

Prue nodded and walked out the office leaving Darryl to question the social worker.

She walked out and located the boy in an empty office to the left, she knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?"

The boy looked up, he looked so sad she thought.

"Sure" he glumly responded.

"Are you another social worker?" he looked wary.

"Nope, just someone who may be able to help?"

Tyler looked her in the eyes and nodded.

"You look trustworthy" he said, smiling.

"Well thanks, so do you" Prue said.

"Can I ask what happened to you earlier?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" he said.

"Try me".

Just at that moment two people came running past reception.

"Has anyone seen our son?" the man asked.

Prue noticed Tyler shrinking back, like he was trying to make himself invisible.

Mr Cowan walked out his office, Darryl in tow.

"Ah, Mr and Mrs Michaels, thanks for coming, this way" he pointed at the office Prue and Tyler were in.

"Oh Tyler thank goodness!" the woman shrieked.

"We were so worried after the fire, but you're ok?" she asked.

Tyler nodded. Moving back a little to stand beside Prue.

She had a bad feeling about these two.

"Well, I'm glad that's all taken care of" Mr Cowan said.

"We'll take our son now yes?" the man said.

"Oh, I'm Stephen by the way, and this is my wife Annette".

Annette smiled and nodded.

"Uh, ok" Darryl said, unsure.

"Can you drop by the station later just so I can ask you a couple questions?" he asked.

"Oh of course" Annette said.

"We're just happy to have Tyler back".

"Come on sweetie" Annette said, her voice so sickly sweet it made Prue cringe.

Tyler looked at Prue for help but his foster parents virtually lifted him off the floor they were dragging him so hard.

Prue and Darryl made their way back to the front desk.

"There's something off about them" a voice said behind them.

Prue turned around, it was the pretty brunette woman from earlier, now that Prue was so close she could make out her features better, she was gorgeous, milky white skin and bright red lips, like an old 50's style actress.

"What do you mean?" Prue asked.

"I don't know exactly, I just get a vibe".

"A vibe?" Darryl questioned.

"Yeah, like they aren't telling the truth" the girl said.

"Ms Matthews was it?" Darryl asked.

The girl nodded.

Darryl turned to Prue, "I gotta get back to the station, you gonna be ok?"

"Sure, thanks for your help Darryl" Prue grabbed Darry's arm in affection and let go.

She turned back around to talk to the girl some more but she was gone.

Prue shrugged and walked towards the entrance. She opened the door and almost collided with Piper and Phoebe.

"Did you see him?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, we had a talk, he seemed ok, a bit shaken but that's all".

"Who wouldn't be?" Phoebe stated.

"I dunno though, there was something off about his parents, my instincts are telling me we should follow them" Prue said.

"Wait a minute, what did his parents look like, a brunette male and a blonde female?" Phoebe questioned hurriedly.

"Yeah exactly that" Prue said.

"Oh no" Prue continued as she realised.

The sisters, led by Phoebe ran out the entrance and down into the alley on the left, Phoebe got there first and to her horror saw that her vision had already come true, the boy was on the floor, frozen in ice. His parents standing over him.

Phoebe got straight to action, she levitated into the air and kicked the man in the face knocking him to the ground.

Prue waved her arm and sent Annette flying into a dumpster.

Piper got to Tyler, "Leo?" she yelled.

"You're gonna be ok sweetie" she whispered.

Leo appeared in a flurry of orbs.

"What is it?" he asked.

"That!" Piper yelled as she pointed behind him.

Leo whirled around as Stephen and Annette got to their feet. Without hesitating he bent down at Tyler's side.

"You two gonna be ok?" he asked Phoebe and Prue.

They both nodded as Leo orbed himself, Piper and Tyler out the alley.

Prue raised her arm to throw the demons back again but it was too late, they shimmered away.

"Damn it" Phoebe sighed.

Prue grabbed Phoebe's hand, Phoebe recoiled and threw Prue out her way.

"Hey, what was that for?" Prue snarled.

Phoebe felt her hand. Unsure of what just happened.

"I'm sorry, I was surprised is all, let's go?" she offered her hand back to Prue and the two ran back to the parking lot.

"I'll meet you at home?" Prue asked as she got into her car.

"Absolutely" Phoebe answered as she got into Piper's.

"What's going on?" Cole said as he shimmered into the living room.

Piper was standing over the sofa, whilst Leo was attempting to heal a young boy, it was working. The ice melted away and he sat up.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?" he said, clearly frightened.

Piper tried to console him, "Its ok, Tyler, were here to help you that's all".

"Ahh, my head" he said as he rubbed his temples, at that exact moment the grandfather clock went up in flames.

"Huh?" Piper said as she ran to the kitchen to get the extinguisher.

After putting out the fire she sat down on the sofa.

"Whew, now what the hell was that?"

"I think…it was me" the boy said as he hung his head.

"This keeps happening to me, I get scared or upset and stuff catches fire, I can't control it".

"A Firestarter", "That's rare" Cole said

"A what now?" Piper asked.

"They're rare magical creatures who can create and control fire" Leo chipped in.

"Uh-huh" Piper said.

"So now what?" she asked Leo.

"We wait for Prue and Phoebe, they may have vanquished the demons by now" he replied.

"You mean my foster parents don't you?" Tyler wondered.

"They're demons like me aren't they?"

"Oh you're not a demon" Cole interjected.

"Take it from someone who has first-hand experience with that, a Firestarter is a being of good magic usually".

"Exactly" Piper said, "It's how you use the power that determines whether you're good or not".

The door slammed open as Prue and Phoebe ran in, looking very out of breath.

Piper raised her eyebrows, "Well?" she asked.

"No dice" Phoebe said.

"They got away" Prue finished.

"No we didn't" a voice said from behind them.

They had left the front door wide open, Stephen and Annette were there peering inside.

"We'll be taking our bounty now thank you" Annette said as she entered.

"Firestarter's are usually taken at a young age and trained to be bodyguards of The Source" Cole said quickly.

"Like hell they are" Prue said.

Before she could even lift her hand Annette, lightning quick threw an energy ball at her and sent her flying into Cole.

Phoebe ran forward and kicked her in the stomach. But Stephen shot a lightning bolt at her sending her threw the bannister and onto the stairs.

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled.

She threw up her hands and tried to freeze them, but it only lasted seconds, they must be upper level demons she thought.

"Don't hurt them, they're good people!" Tyler shouted.

"Shut up boy and do as you're told" Annette said spitefully.

Tyler grabbed his head and aimed at the two demons, they screamed as they caught fire and exploded into a million particles of ash.

"Whoa" Piper said.

"No wonder The Source wants you" she continued.

"Everyone ok?" she asked.

They all nodded as they got to their feet.

"I think I figured out how they found us" Prue said.

"How?" Phoebe asked, coming down the stairs slowly.

"Him" Prue replied pointing at Tyler.

"Or, at least, his power".

"Think about it, they had no idea where we lived, I don't think we were followed".

"It makes sense" Cole said.

"If they were bounty hunters they'd have put trackers on his powers".

"Then you know what we have to do" Leo said.

Piper sighed, this was like some nasty karmic prank making her bind a child's powers when she was having that same argument with Leo over their future child.

A day later and Darryl had come to pick Tyler up to take him back to the social services, his powers bound, he was off to a better life Prue thought, no demons after him and hopefully a loving family.

She dashed through the airport, worried about missing her flight. Phoebe and Piper had insisted that they would be fine for a few days without her, so she couldn't really say no, she handed her ticket and passport over and boarded her plane, it rose quickly into the sunlight and almost 12 hours later she touched down at Heathrow airport, ready for sunny England.

"Oh" she said as she stepped off the plane into the torrential rain.

End of Chapter Five, stay tuned for Chapter Six: "When in London".


	6. When In London

Charmed Reborn Chapter Six: "When in London"

Prue Halliwell sat in a bar in her hotel, it was one of the nicest, most luxurious places she had ever been, The May Fair Hotel, traditional but with a modern flair and lots to do, it had a theatre, a casino and a spa. She'd wanted to see some of London but so far, she hadn't been very successful, mainly because of jet leg, she was only going to be here another two days, and today was the day of the shoot, to say she was nervous was an understatement, she was literally going to be photographing royalty.

For the next two days she had made a pact with herself to not think about demons or magic, this was definitely a break she needed, even if it was only for a few days.

She found it funny that neither she nor her sisters had ever been to a different country, when they literally had their own taxi service at home thanks to Leo. Not that she'd recommend him abusing his powers like that, eurgh, she thought, she was thinking about magic again.

"Ms Halliwell?" a voice said from behind her.

She whirled around and nearly dropped her early morning latte, standing in front of her was possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever seen, raven coloured hair, bright blue eyes, stubble, a clearly athletic looking body.

"Uh, yes?" she managed to spit out.

"My name is Will, I'll be your guide for the day".

"Yes please" she mumbled.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing, let's go!" Prue said, flushing.

Together the two of them walked out the hotel and to the nearest train station, London basically had its own underground train railway system very similar to the New York subway called the Underground. It sounded sinister to her but maybe that was because it sounded so much like "underworld", dammit, she thought, she was thinking about magic again.

They waited patiently for their train.

"So you live around here?" Prue wondered, trying to make conversation.

"Oh no, I come from a far less posh part of England" Will said, smiling.

Their train arrived and they got on, Prue smashed up against the wall because all the seats were taken and apparently this was rush hour.

About an hour later they had reached their destination, Hyde Park, one of the biggest parks in London.

Will told her that if they followed it all the way to the end they would be at Kensington palace, which was definitely something Prue wouldn't mind seeing.

She could see the set-up for the shoot from where they were standing, a whole cordoned off area was visible, lots of security was about, she guessed that these were important people.

They trudged through the damp grass and reached their destination. Security eyed Prue up, she did her best innocent look and was let through the barriers along with Will.

Three hours later along with lots of photographing and the shoot was done and dusted. That didn't last anywhere near as long as Prue thought it would, turns out the Lady was not very fussy and seemed annoyed to be even doing the shoot, she guessed even royalty got tired of being royal sometimes and just wanted to enjoy their day.

"How about some lunch?" Will asked.

"God yes I am starving" Prue said, holding her stomach.

Will laughed, "You say what you think, I like that".

"Well thanks, I think". Prue said, unsure.

They walked across the road to a small café, it was so comfortable and welcoming, she wished her sisters could be here to experience this with her.

Will insisted on ordering what he called "traditional English food", which worried her, she didn't even really know what English food would be like, but to her pleasant surprise the waitress bought over some grilled cheese and ham sandwiches and some scones.

It was so stereotypical of her as a tourist but she didn't care, it was all delicious, and after about two hours talking with Will non-stop she realised that she really liked him, he had been raised on a farm on the outskirts of London and moved into the main city a few years ago for his job. So at heart, he was a rural guy, Prue could definitely get with that.

They left the café and walked down the street, Prue feeling warm inside, she hadn't felt a spark for someone like this in a long time. They talked some more about her life (Prue leaving out the magic part obviously). And discussed more of his, like how his grandfather had served in the War, and that he had two younger sisters, she could definitely relate Prue thought.

As they walked further on Will began to slow down, he had turned pale, in fact, Prue thought, he looked damn terrified.

"What is it?" Prue asked.

"Um, nothing, let's go back this way" he said as he turned himself and Prue around.

"What's going on?" Prue demanded.

"I thought I just saw someone I knew, but I guess not" he tailed off as they turned in the opposite direction and found themselves face to face with at least five men.

"Will, where have you been?" the man in front asked.

Prue had to admit, he looked menacing, teeth stuck out in every direction, black leather jacket and tattoos, he seemed to think he looked intimidating. But Prue thought otherwise.

"Will, who is this?" she asked.

"Why don't you tell your little girlfriend to walk away Will, we don't want to hurt her" the man said.

Prue smiled, "I think it's you that needs to walk away".

The man's smile faded.

He commanded his minions, "Grab them".

The four men behind him surged forward and grabbed the two of them by the arms, pining them back behind them.

"You just made a big mistake" Prue said.

She squinted her eyes at the leader and sent him flying back into a shop window. The people outside ran away screaming. Prue didn't like using her power in public but she couldn't let Will get hurt.

She stamped her foot down onto the foot of the man to her left making him scream in pain, then bought her elbow up into the other man's face, sending him reeling back.

"Will duck!" she yelled. He lowered his head and she lifted her arm up and sent the thugs holding him flying through the air.

"You're a witch?" Will asked, shocked.

"Wait, how do you know?" she asked.

Before either of them could say more the leader of the pack blinked in behind Will, grabbed him and blinked away, Prue fell to her knees, damn it, she thought, she'd had no idea she'd been dealing with warlocks, who was that guy? And how would she be able to find Will?

Piper was making some lunch, she'd had a very, very boring day, not that she was cursing that fact, she was utterly overjoyed at it, the last time she'd got to have a normal day was probably years ago.

It was just her and Phoebe today since Prue was away and Leo had orbed away earlier to deal with a charge, Cole was nowhere to be seen but he seemed to do that a lot.

Phoebe came into the kitchen, yawning.

"Good morning sleepy head" Piper teased.

"Oh shush, I didn't really get a lot of sleep last night if you know what I mean" she winked and smiled.

"Ew" Piper said, pouring her sister some coffee.

Phoebe drank gratefully and put down her mug.

"Uh, Piper, there's something I have to get off my chest, and I feel like it would be easier telling you since you're less judgemental than Prue".

"That's not true!" Piper exclaimed.

Then she twitched her mouth, "Hmm, yeah, ok, it's true" she conceded.

"Well, it's about my time in the underworld".

"Oh" Piper said, she'd been hoping Phoebe would open up about her ordeal sooner or later.

"Go on" she pushed gently.

"The Source did something to me down there, something I don't quite understand".

"What?" Piper asked, rather concerned.

"He strapped me down to an altar and fed me images, I don't know if he was tapping into my premonition power or what, but he showed me things, bad things, and sometimes he showed me you guys".

"Me and Prue?" Piper questioned.

"Yeah, he showed me, it sounds stupid now that I say it out loud, but he showed me images or visions I guess, of you two hurting me, attacking me".

"Phoebe, you're my baby sister, sometimes I wanna strangle you but not out of spite" Piper grinned.

Phoebe smiled back, "I know, it just freaked me out is all".

"Well I don't know what he was trying to achieve but it obviously failed, right?" asked Piper.

"Right" Phoebe said, not very sure of herself.

The Seer materialized into her chambers, worried.

The Source knew someone had betrayed him, and that someone had helped Belthazor escape, no witch could have single-handedly weakened those magical restraints, not without help, and he knew it

Luckily she had managed to avoid much suspicion so far, but it would only take so long until he thought she had anything to do with it, The Source was nothing if not intelligent, he wouldn't have lasted 500 years on the throne if he wasn't.

But she was so close, she knew he had plans for the silly witch he had been mind warping for those few months, but she didn't care about that. She just wanted power, the ultimate power as she saw it, and she'd stop at nothing to get it.

She had already commenced the first part of her plan, the next part, not so easy. Now she had to somehow steal the grimoire. A very dark, magical book full of ancient rituals and spells, including one she wanted very much.

Prue looked to her left, and then to her right, and then forward, she had no idea where she was. She could see the park in the distance but that was about it, she thought about calling for Leo, that would be the logical thing to do, but she knew he'd tell Piper and Phoebe and she didn't want to get them involved, she'd promised them a few days off and she intended to keep that promise, she had to think, Will knew she was a witch, or at least he knew about witches, those guys were blinking, they were clearly warlocks, and they weren't after her, they were after him. So that means…Will is a witch too? Why else would a group of warlocks take him? Which meant she had to act fast before they killed him for whatever power he had, obviously not an active one otherwise he would have surely used it to protect himself.

Now she knew exactly what she needed to do, she needed to scry.

She ran down the street, looking in each shop window before she came across what she was looking for, a book store.

She ran in, grabbed a map of London, paid and ran back out before finding a quiet alleyway, now she just needed a scrying crystal.

She lowered her head and concentrated, feeling that familiar sensation of separating oneself from their body, she astral projected home.

She materialized in the attic, good, she thought, no one was here, she ran across the room, grabbed the crystal and astraled back to the alleyway inside her body, she looked down at her left hand, the crystal was there, guess she could bring objects back with her now, handy she thought as she spread the map out on the ground and began to swing the crystal over it, she felt like she'd forgotten something, damn it, she thought, she needed something of Will's.

Then she remembered he'd given her a tissue earlier whilst on the train, please let me still have it she thought desperately as she rummaged through her bag. Thank God she thought as she pulled out the crumpled tissue, not exactly a treasured item but hopefully it would do the trick.

She swung the crystal again whilst holding the tissue, thinking of Will, of his beautiful face, concentrate! She internally yelled at herself, she could feel it pulling, she moved her hand to the right and boom! The crystal point slammed down onto a destination, "The Red Lion", the map said. Huh? Thought Prue as she shoved the crystal and the map down into her bag, oh well, here goes she thought. She had always wondered if she could do this, but had never tried, it was now or never.

She lowered her head and concentrated intently, focusing on the location she'd seen on the map before she let out a gasp, she was struggling to breathe for a moment, and when she opened her eyes she looked up at a big sign above her head, "The Red Lion", it was a really shady looking bar, or pub. She smiled, she had done it, projected her whole body to a different location. She felt exhausted though, the amount of energy that must have taken must have been massive, she definitely wouldn't be trying that again anytime soon.

She took a look around the outside, definitely shady, all the windows were boarded up, the warlocks had chosen this location on purpose, no one would disturb them here, except for her that is, she smirked as she looked for a way in.

Phoebe and Piper had decided to meet Cole and Leo for an early dinner at their favourite Italian restaurant just a couple of blocks away from Prescott Street, it was a bit of a hole in the wall and barely anyone knew it was there, but the food was delicious.

Leo looked sheepish, remembering the last double date he and Piper had gone on with Phoebe and Cole, how he had been humiliated for not being able to pay. At least Cole was in the same boat now though he thought as the main dish arrived, Spaghetti Bolognese, a classic.

An hour later and Phoebe had her hands on her stomach, she was too full to even stand, Cole helped her up and together with Leo and Piper they left the restaurant, admiring the stars as they crossed the streets back home.

"Ya know, I think tonight might be the nicest night I've had in months" Phoebe murmured to Cole.

"I can't disagree with that" he said as he bought his lips down for a kiss, Phoebe reciprocated, she still felt off, but at least she had her man and her family with her.

Just as they rounded a corner Phoebe heard someone scream.

She whirled around and noticed an alley off to the side of a housing estate, she took off at a run down towards it.

"Phoebe wait!" she heard Piper yell behind her.

She reached the mouth of the alley and peered down, there was a body lying on the ground, a woman, she ran towards her and was hit with a premonition, a demon with black skin, wielding an athame killing a woman with a necklace like a triple crescent. She came out of the vision to see Cole kneeling down beside her, examining the body.

"She's alive, I think we scared it off" he stated.

"Way to go Captain obvious" Piper said, trying to catch her breath.

Cole ignored the jibe, "What did you see?" he asked Phoebe.

"I saw a woman die, I think she might have been a witch".

"This woman?" Piper asked.

Phoebe looked into the woman's face, it was her.

"Yeah, but the time of day in my vision was day, not night".

"And I'm pretty sure it happened in a park, though I couldn't tell which one".

The woman slowly started to come too.

"What happened? Who are you?" she asked.

She had on an orange and green coat and she wore the triple crescent necklace Phoebe had seen in the vision.

"You were attacked by a demon" Cole said.

"That answers one of my questions" the woman said flatly.

"It's ok, we aren't going to hurt you, we're going to help you" Piper said encouragingly.

"If you're a witch you may have heard of us, The Charmed Ones" Phoebe confessed.

The woman gasped.

"Of course I've heard of you, but aren't there supposed to be three of you" the woman peered around trying to look for a third sister.

"Unfortunately one of us is on vacation right now, but trust us, we'll stop this demon" Phoebe said.

"Let's go" Piper murmured to Leo.

The five figures huddled together and orbed back to the manor.

"So I saw a park in my vision, do you have any idea where it could have been? It looked like there was an old amphitheatre there or something".

"Oh, of course, that's Stanley Arboreta, I walk past it on the way to work".

"God, I didn't even ask your name, I'm so sorry" Phoebe said, guilty.

"It's Susan". The woman said, smiling.

"What did the demon look like again?" Piper asked.

"Like Belthazor, but reverse, black skin, red markings".

"I know him, his name is Sykes, one of The Source's assassins, he must have been sent to wipe out local covens" Cole said.

"How do we find him?" Leo asked.

"I have a really bad idea" Phoebe said.

Prue had found a trap door at the back of the pub, nothing good ever came of climbing down a dilapidated old tunnel into a bar she thought as she waved her hands and made the door fly open.

She jumped down as sprightly as she could, she was still pretty tired from projecting but she had regained some strength, hopefully enough of it.

She came out from the basement and found herself in a dingy corridor, it had two doors at either end, one that looked like it opened into the bar area, the other area was shut off but it looked like a shady games room old men liked to play poker in and bet their wives for a few thousand bucks.

She made her way to the bar, if anything maybe she could find a weapon of some kind.

She struck gold, there was an old bread knife under the bar, it looked pretty rusty but hopefully it would do the trick, she tucked it into her jeans and went back to investigate the end room.

She could hear the low murmur of voices, looked like she had found what she was looking for.

She thought about how to do this, she had no idea how many of them were in there, she decided to astral project into the back of the room, hoping no one would notice her.

She peered around from behind a stack of crates, it was the same five warlocks from earlier with Will tied up in a chair, he was covered in blood and looked like he was in a lot of pain with cuts down his face.

Prue couldn't wait any longer. She projected back to her body and raised her arm making the door fly off its hinges into the room, instantly crushing and killing one of the warlocks.

"You again!" the head warlock yelled as he flung what Prue could only describe as an energy dart her way, she squinted her eyes and reflected it back at another of the warlocks, sending him to a fiery death. That just left three.

Prue ran towards one of them and flung her palm up into his nose, breaking it, she unsheathed the rusty bread knife and plunged it into his gut, sending him up in flames.

Two to go. Prue waved her arm and send a warlock into the crates, knocking him unconscious, which just left the leader.

"Who are you?" the leader said, cowering behind Will.

"I'm Prue, nice to meet you" she said as she let go of the bread knife, squinting her eyes and making it fly through the air into the leader's neck, he screamed in agony as he exploded into ash.

Prue wasted no time and waved her hand at the rope tying Will down, she lugged him up onto her shoulders and dragged him out of the pub, going through the front door this time, using her telekinesis to open each barrier in her way.

Finally they reached the front and made their way down the pathway, finally she set Will down and took a couple of breaths before yelling, "Leo!"

He appeared in a flurry or orbs looking concerned, "What is it?" "Who's this?"

"Leo, I'll explain but please heal him".

Leo got to work and his hands began to glow as the healing took effect, after a moment Will woke up, looking like his normal, healthy self.

"Thank God" Prue said.

"You wanna explain this?" Leo questioned.

"Never mind" he said.

"We have a situation back at home anyway".

Prue, suddenly worried, "What's up?" she asked.

"Uh, Piper made me promise not to tell you, she said enjoy your vacation".

And just like that he orbed back out, presumably back home to the manor.

"Chicken!" Prue yelled into the sky.

Will stood up.

"I can't believe you saved me" he said, looking embarrassed.

"Thank you".

"It was nothing" Prue smiled.

"It was my life, that's not nothing".

"Why did those warlocks want you anyway?"

"Oh, I kind of screwed them over a few weeks ago, got half their gang vanquished, they wanted revenge I guess".

"Oh, I see, but, you're a witch?"

"Yes I am".

"Huh, I feel like I know nothing about you all of a sudden" Prue said.

"I can solve that".

He held out his hand for a handshake.

"My name is William Marks, a witch with the power to sense objects and people, and you are?"

Prue smiled and held her hand out, "Prue Halliwell, a witch with telekinesis and a mean right hook".

They both laughed and walked off into the night, eager for some dinner.

End of Chapter Six, stay tuned for Chapter Seven: "All Seeing Eye".


	7. All Seeing Eye

Charmed Reborn Chapter Seven: All Seeing Eye

Phoebe walked slowly around the park, she was about to get to the area she'd seen in her vision, the place where she saw Susan die.

She was in disguise, Susan's orange coat and necklace as well as her hat, the goal was to make Sykes think that she was the innocent, but she could defend herself.

Leo had warned them against doing this, they didn't have the power of three right now and Sykes was an upper level demon, but they did have Cole for extra fire power should they need it.

There it is, she thought, the old amphitheatre, she climbed the short stairway and walked onto the platform, acting like she was just checking her make-up when she felt a presence appear behind her.

She put her mirror away and kept walking, holding the coat tightly around her as some kind of sub-conscious safety net.

Then she heard his voice.

"Hello witch".

Phoebe whirled around and came face to face with Sykes, she was momentarily startled, he looked so much like Belthazor, more so than her vision showed.

He pulled out an athame from his belt and made to swing it towards her, she grabbed his arm, flopped down on her back and threw him over her, he landed with a loud crack behind her.

She immediately stood at the same time as he did and jumped into the air, levitating just above his head before she used her trademark levitating kick to knock him back down.

"Now" she yelled.

Just behind Sykes, Cole and Piper shimmered in, Piper raised her arms and blew Sykes away into the bushes, dropping his athame as he fell, Phoebe grabbed it and sliced a chunk of flesh off his wrist.

He screamed in agony, "Stupid witch, I'll get you for that!"

But Cole was ready for him, he shimmered in between Sykes and Phoebe and began launching energy balls at him, it was a furious assault but he managed to shimmer out of harm's way.

"Damn it" Piper said as she approached Phoebe and Cole.

"It's ok, the plan worked" Phoebe said comfortingly, holding up the flesh.

"Let's get back to the manor, Susan will be safe with Leo".

The trio shimmered out back to the manor to make the vanquishing potion.

The Year 740 BC

Lamia sat with her back to the wall, she was in trouble, she had defaced a royal statue in her mother's courtyard, she was angry, she had been shut out of a meeting yet again, one that would determine what stupid man her mother was to steal away this time around. She could use her power to see but she liked to be surprised, the township they had settled in decades ago had been ripe for the picking, her mother always had her use her sight to see which town to conquer and make suffer.

But these days she was isolated, forbidden from taking a man of her own, lest she be competition for her beautiful mother, not only that but she had new servants and worshippers to fulfil her every need.

She looked down at the town, known as Asine, it was stunning, beautiful flowers and trees, it made her feel more free from her situation, something she needed to try and free herself from, if only she knew how, she was bound to her mother.

She had been born several centuries ago, one of her mother's conquests had gotten her with child, and nine months later Lamia was born, she was said to have been a beautiful child, and now as a teenager she was even more beautiful, mocha skin and a voluptuous body, men desired her, but they could not have her.

The ground began to shake, Lamia jolted up, wondering what was going on, but she already knew, and now she would get it in the neck.

"Lamia!" her mother shrieked as she charged towards the teenager.

Lamia bowed her head, "Yes mother?"

Her mother's hand whipped out, cupping her cheek, her nails digging into her face.

"Why didn't you see this?!" she demanded.

Lamia smiled, and for her cheek she got a slap round the face.

"You dare defy me?" her mother whispered in her deadly voice.

"Now I will destroy this town and everyone in it, now that man has gotten married I cannot have him!"

Lamia pulled away from her mother. And spat blood out of her mouth onto the ground.

Her mother began to transform, her head pointing upwards as horns sprouted, scales grew over her skin, her eyes glowing red.

"You will pay for this my daughter!" her mother screamed as the ground shook again, cracking apart underneath them all the way down to the town.

Lamia sighed, another one bites the dust.

The town was ripped apart, Lamia could hear people screaming, wailing in terror, her mother just laughing in the centre of it all as she committed mass murder.

Her mother's servants dropped to their knees, raised their arms and begun to chant.

"Praise Hecate!" they shrieked as the ground blew apart beneath them, sucking them into the void.

The potion exploded in Piper's face, you'd think she'd have learnt by now, but no, always a glutton for punishment.

"Huh, look at this" Phoebe said, bringing the book of shadows over, she pointed out a page to Piper, it read "To stop a lover's heart".

"Seems a little….dark for us right?" She asked.

"Probably one of Grams'" Piper giggled.

Phoebe smirked, she had been noticing a lot of strange spells and potions in the book lately, maybe she'd just never noticed them before, or maybe ancestors of theirs had been adding them, still though, it was odd she thought.

The Year 1350

"We picked the wrong town my daughter, this country is ravaged by disease" Hecate spat as she walked through the town of Paris with her entourage.

Everywhere they looked the homeless slept in doorways, in alleyways, it was impossible to avoid them, which greatly angered her mother.

Lamia knew the only reason they'd come here was so that her mother could court the King of France, she wanted power, and right now she thought she could get it from the king, it was said that he would soon be married, and Hecate would stop at nothing to get in the way of that. Luckily for the King, Lamia would stop at nothing to make sure her mother didn't meet her accomplishment. After the stunt she had pulled back in Greece all those centuries ago, Hecate had sentenced Lamia to two hundred years of imprisonment in the underworld. Trapped in one of The Source's dungeons along with some of the foulest creatures in creation. She thought that maybe once free she could escape her mother, but there she was waiting for her when she returned above ground, ready to move onto their next conquest.

She wondered if she'd ever be free to go her own way. One day, maybe.

France was in suffering right now, at war with Britain and engulfed with The Black Plague, Lamia detested the place, whilst her mother revelled in the destruction, she tried to deny it but Lamia could see it in her eyes, she was in her element.

"Now, Lamia, be a dear, use your sight, tell me when the wedding is" Hecate demanded.

Lamia smiled, "About an hour ago, I'm sure they're on their way to a nice honeymoon right about now".

Hecate's followers gasped.

"What did you say!?" Hecate seethed.

Lamia just laughed, maybe she'd be imprisoned again, but it was so worth it to see her mother like this, two centuries in a cage without her mother was better than a moment with her as far as she was concerned.

The ground began to shake, here we go again Lamia thought.

"Oh mother, get some new tricks" Lamia purred.

The ground stopped shaking.

"Like the ones I've picked up" she carried on.

"Oh really" Hecate giggled.

"Like what?"

"Like this!" Lamia yelled as she lunged at her mother with a knife.

Her mother grabbed the knife from Lamia's hand and kicked her daughter to the ground.

"This?" her mother asked, unimpressed.

"It's not just any knife, forged in Italy by zealots, it has the power to seal you away!" Lamia shouted as she rose up and punched her mother round the face, sending her crumpling onto the floor.

Her mother rose, her eyes glowing red from fury.

"Where did you get that?" she asked in her deadly whisper.

"The Order of the Stephanine Cross" Lamia replied.

Hecate's eyes widened, "Those fools?" she asked, snarling.

Lamia nodded, knowing she had gotten to her mother, she thought herself invincible, and now to know that she had a weakness, it made this moment even sweeter.

"You little bitch" she whispered.

"You are no daughter of mine, I hereby banish you from my presence, if I see you again, I'll kill you" Hecate said.

She rose her arm and threw the dagger into the sky, it went soaring into the stars, going somewhere nobody knew as Hecate used all her strength to send it across land and sea.

Hecate turned from her daughter.

"Come!" she yelled at her followers as she marched off into the moonlight.

Lamia smiled, she was free.

Prue rushed her way through the airport, as soon as she had safely gotten Will back to the hotel she had gotten Mr Corso, her boss to book her a flight straight back home because of a family emergency, she didn't know what it was, but the way Leo sounded made it seem like her sisters were in trouble. She'd never forgive herself if she had been living it up on a foreign country whilst her sisters battled evil without her. She hailed a taxi and jumped in, eager to get home and see what the problem was.

The Year 1660

Lamia had spent the last few centuries on her own, by her own admittance, it hadn't gone terribly well, she had made it out of France and onto a ship that set sail for the new world, and here she was in Salem, Massachusetts, not a great place for those who were magical right now, but still she felt some peace here.

She had travelled the world, using her visions as a way to make some money, not always telling the truth, how many people really wanted to hear that they would soon be dead? Not many. So she bent the truth sometimes, the more glamorous she made it sound, the bigger the tip.

She wouldn't dare use her services here though, not with all the witch hunters about, she wasn't a witch but humans couldn't tell the difference, most of them were fools.

She hadn't seen her mother in three centuries, sometimes she wondered where she was, what she was doing, not that she cared much anymore, she just missed ruining her plans more than anything.

The truth was that here she was treated like a slave, her skin colour made sure of that, humans had a strange concept of race that those from the underworld didn't share. But she got on with it, her family was fairly nice and had given her comfortable quarters in the backyard of their cottage.

But soon she would leave. She hated to stay in one place for too long. Those with power could rarely stay still for long.

She was making her rounds, on the way to the town market to get food for tonight's meal, she had told the family she would be cooking lamb, hopefully she had enough money for it.

She made her way through the woods when all of a sudden a large, gale force wind seemed to literally appear out of thin air, sending her and her basket flying into a tree, she attempted to stand but the wind held her there, keeping her still. She was scared, for a horrible moment she thought her mother had returned for her, but she looked up, this was something else, someone else.

A figure formed in front of her eyes, made from the wind itself.

A demon, a powerful one at that, she could feel the evil aura dripping off him like he were made of water, or in this case, air. He had large wings that surrounded his being, this was for sure an ancient demon.

"Stand" he commanded.

Lamia did as she was told.

"I have need of your services child".

"I am not a child" Lamia snarled.

"You are to me" the being replied.

Lamia turned her head. The demon chuckled.

"I like the fierce ones" the demon said, licking his lips.

Lamia cringed, forcing herself to fully face him.

"What is it you want?" she asked him.

"My name is Pazuzu, and I only ask that you look into the future for me".

"Why me?" she wondered.

"I asked around the underworld, seemed like you were the most powerful Seer above ground who wouldn't try to kill me" he winked.

"You would surely destroy them in an instant?" Lamia questioned.

"Besides, I am no Seer".

"There are beings, believe it or not, that are far stronger than I am, anyway, you see the past, present and future yes?" Pazuzu asked.

"Yes" Lamia admitted.

"Then you're a Seer, except it and move on" he said brazenly.

Lamia folded her arms, unimpressed.

She thought for a moment, she may as well do as he asked, he had far more power than she did, she didn't have the leverage here to refuse. She shrugged her shoulders loose.

"Anything specific?" Lamia asked.

"There is a girl, in town, red hair, her name is Charlotte Warren".

"Fate seems to converge around her for some reason, like the world is just waiting for her destiny to begin".

Lamia shut her eyes and concentrated, she opened them, they had become pure white as she searched the future for this girl.

"I see many possible futures, ones involving light, ones involving dark, you're correct in what you say, many paths lie ahead for this girl, but they all start the same way".

Lamia returned from her visions and looked Pazuzu dead in the face.

"This girl will be responsible for bringing forth the end of evil kind as we know it".

"Not her personally, but her descendants".

Pazuzu nodded, "Then I must kill her".

"You can't!" Lamia shouted.

Pazuzu didn't look happy."

"If what you say is true, then I must do so!" he shrieked.

"If you do then a far greater good will take her place, ensuring our destruction!"

Pazuzu stared for a moment before accepting the truth.

"Fine, I will leave the girl, thank you for your help, one day, I will repay the favour", and with that he vanished into thin air, a bursting hot wind cutting snakes through the air.

Lamia smiled, she certainly knew how to bend the truth when it came to her visions. And now, she was learning to do it in her own favour.

"Leo!" Piper called.

Her husband orbed into the living room with Susan. Her, Phoebe and Cole had decided to re-use the plan from earlier, except this time using the real Susan, it was risky, but they had to lure Sykes out of hiding somehow before he found a new target.

"Piper how could you be so reckless?" Leo asked.

"Anything could go wrong".

"Don't worry sweetie we'll be fine, it's not like this our first rodeo".

"I guess" Leo conceded.

"Looking for me?" a voice said behind them, it was Sykes.

"Ok, Leo, go!" Piper yelled as he and Susan orbed out.

Sykes shimmered behind Piper and plunged his knife into her lower back.

"No!" Phoebe yelled as she ran to her sister, levitated over the sofa and kicked Sykes in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Phoebe landed beside Piper and tried to cover the wound.

"Its ok honey, I've got you" she said.

The Year 1670

The town of Salem was in chaos, armed men riding around on horses, killing with no objections. Lamia ran out of her master's house, careful to stay in the shadows. She wondered what on Earth was going on.

She ran down an alley and bumped into a servant girl. She grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back against the wall.

"Unhand me foul woman!" the girl screeched.

"Shut up fool!" Lamia snarled.

"Tell me what is going on!" she demanded.

The girl stuttered, frightened.

"Now!" Lamia yelled in her face.

"Three women, three witches helped another witch escape imprisonment from the Cobb house, the town is in ruins, witches running free, using their magic, the towns folk are scared" the girl sobbed into Lamia's shoulder.

Lamia cringed and snapped the girl's neck, she loathed simpletons.

That was her favourite way to kill, no mess.

She ran down to the back of the alley, trying to find a way to escape, if there were true witches here she needed to escape, if they sensed a demon nearby they'd try to vanquish her.

As she reached the end she found a tall wooden wall, Lamia cursed, she couldn't get through this without something to cut it down with, a saw maybe.

But she had no need of it, a fiery portal opened up, engulfed in flame and ash, Lamia was pulled towards it and sucked in and spat out on the other side.

She opened her eyes, she was laying on sand, she slowly rose to her feet and gasped when she realised who was standing in front of her, even if she couldn't sense his power she'd know it was him. The newly crowned Source of all Evil. He was terrifying, even worse, he was smiling, which made his grotesque appearance rival that of her mothers.

He spoke loud and clear.

"I hear you have need of a job".

"What kind of job?" Lamia asked.

"One in which I can provide you with great power, a Seer".

Lamia smiled deviously, her vision was coming true, now it was just a matter of time. She was good at waiting.

Cole launched into action, throwing an energy ball into Sykes face, sending him crashing through the front door, a moment later he came flying back through the door.

"Huh?" Cole wondered aloud.

But then he saw Prue coming up the steps, fury in her face as she spotted Piper crumpled on the floor.

She waved her arm again and sent Sykes flying into the wall above the stairs, leaving him semi-conscious.

"Phoebe now!" Cole yelled.

Phoebe stood and threw the potion at Sykes feet, he stood slowly as he was engulfed in flame, he looked to his left towards Cole.

"Such a disappointment Belthazor" and exploded into ash.

Prue ran forward yelling Leo's name as she did, he orbed down with Susan and ran to Piper, his hands already glowing by the time he reached her.

She sat up and groaned.

Prue breathed a sigh of relief before punching both her sisters on the arm.

Phoebe's head whipper round.

"Touch me again bitch and I'll end you!" she snarled.

Prue flinched.

Piper sighed.

Cole frowned.

Phoebe looked embarrassed.

"Sorry Prue, just been a long day is all, not had much sleep".

"It's ok Phoebs, we all have our moments" Prue said.

"But seriously, next time you're in trouble, just call me".

The Year 1998

The Seer hurried to her chambers, she was excited, exhilarated, she had found them, The Charmed Ones, or at least, some other servants to The Source had found them, those two warlocks, she laughed out loud, unable to help herself, she'd still have to wait for her plan to be carried out. But ultimate power would soon be in her grasp.

As she walked around her chambers she came to the well in the centre of the room, noticing something. The Seer gasped, it was the dagger of the Stephanine Cross, but how did it get here? There was a small note attached.

" _Found this floating through the winds, thought maybe you could find some use for it"_

 _Pazuzu_

The Seer picked up the dagger and smiled, she knew just where to send it, she threw it down into the well, which she used to transport things, and sent it into the hands of a priest in San Francisco.

End of Chapter Seven, stay tuned for Chapter Eight: "Hurricane Shax".


	8. Hurricane Shax

Charmed Reborn Chapter Eight: Hurricane Shax

Piper sat in the waiting room at the hospital, she had been waiting for over an hour, she was here to get some tests done, she hadn't wanted to tell her sisters but her and Leo had been trying for a baby the past couple of months and nothing seemed to be going their way so to speak.

She knew it wasn't always easy, and that it wasn't always an instant thing for most couples, but she had a strange feeling about it in her stomach every time she thought about it, like something wasn't quite right.

So she'd made an appointment with a fertility specialist who would hopefully perform some tests and see if there were any problems.

The past couple of weeks had been difficult, ever since Prue got home from England Phoebe had been distant, back to spending a lot of time shut in her room, or the attic, and Prue was starting to lose her temper. So as usual, it was up to Piper to try and keep the peace and mediate between the two of them.

"Piper Halliwell?" a nurse called.

"Yes, that's me" she replied.

"This way" the nurse said pointing towards an open room.

Another hour later and Piper had seen the specialist who had ordered some tests, mainly routine ones just to check that everything down there was working well.

She was just about to walk out of the hospital when something caught her eye, it was a memorial, a shrine if you will, to Dr Griffiths, the heart surgeon that Shax had murdered at the manor all those months ago, Piper shook her head, they still hadn't managed to track him down, not that they had tried very hard, they'd had a lot of distractions in recent months. But Piper was feeling determined, they'd get him back for what he'd done if it was the last thing she did.

The Source flamed into his throne room, his soldiers gathered and already waiting, his top lieutenants bowed their heads, they were all there, the grimlocks, the furies, the warlocks and even the vampires had been invited.

The Source snarled, he hated the vampires, they had tried to betray him centuries ago, if it hadn't been for his faithful Seer he would never had known, he looked behind the almighty chair in the centre, there she was, he had plucked her from squalor a long time ago, and since then she had been his most devoted servant, he hated to admit it but he owed her a lot.

"You all know why you're here" he boomed.

"The Charmed Ones have caused us too much in recent years, and now it is time to put my plans into action, we must destroy them from the inside out".

He began to laugh, it sounded pure evil.

"Shax!" he called loudly.

The Source's most devoted assassin stepped forward, bowing as he did so.

"Kill them" The Source commanded.

Shax began to smile before wind carried him away into the air.

The Seer spoke. "Shax will never kill The Charmed Ones, he isn't part of your plan anyway is he?"

The Source chuckled.

"Always observant aren't you, or could it be that you've seen his fate?"

He continued, "Shax' goal is not to destroy a Charmed One, only help capture one. Again".

The Seer felt something stir behind her, a man materialized into the room, a very, very tall man, she gasped as she recognised who it was, someone The Source had imprisoned long ago, she had seen him during her own imprisonment down in the dungeons, she never thought he would resort to this though.

The Source directed his next command to the tall man, "Go, lay in wait, and when he fails, capture the prize".

The tall man bowed and de-materialized.

"You think it wise to unearth him?" The Seer questioned.

"I will do whatever it takes" The Source screamed.

The Seer shrank back and bowed her head in compliance before teleporting back to her own chambers. This could mess with her own plans, she had to warn the witches. Her eyes began to glow white.

"Phoebs, you in there?" Prue asked outside Phoebe's bedroom.

No reply.

Prue sighed, this had gone on long enough, she wiggled her finger and unlocked the door telekinetically before pushing it open.

Phoebe was sat on her bed, her hair dirty, her face free of make-up, she looked utterly miserable. Prue felt for her, but she needed to know what was wrong before she could do anything to help.

"Phoebe, please just tell me, what is wrong with you?"

Phoebe began to sob as she lowered her head into her knees.

Prue rushed over to console her.

She began to speak.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I've been feeling this way for a while, but recently, it's been worse".

"What's been worse?" Prue asked.

"I feel hollow, empty, stuff that I usually care about means nothing to me anymore".

"Stuff like what?"

"You, Piper, Cole, Mom, everyone, everything".

"What do you feel for us now?" Prue wondered.

"Hatred".

Prue was shocked, she'd never encountered anything like this before, worse than anything, she couldn't tell if this problem was magical or mental. Phoebe had spent so much time down in the underworld that perhaps it screwed with her brain.

Prue tried to sound confident, "We're gonna fix this ok?"

Phoebe looked hopeful which broke Prue's heart, how could she have been so blind?

"You mean it?" Phoebe asked.

Prue nodded, no way was she going to let her sister go through this, at least not alone anyway.

She pulled Phoebe into a hug but Phoebe cringed away as she gasped, being sucked into a premonition, Prue stood back waiting to hear what her sister was seeing.

In the vision Phoebe saw Shax, The Source's assassin attacking Inspector Cortez at what looked like the hospital. The vision ended and Phoebe looked up at her concerned sister.

"Call Piper, we need to get to the hospital".

"Sad isn't it?" a voice said from behind Piper.

She whirled round, it was Inspector Cortez, Piper had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Are you following us now Inspector?" she asked, smiling.

"Not at all, I just came to pay my respects, you see I feel guilty for not yet finding this man's killer, perhaps you've got some guilt of your own?" he asked pointedly.

"Very smooth Inspector, but no, I was here for a doctor's appointment when I noticed the memorial on my way out".

"I see" he replied.

"You haven't called any of us down to the station yet, so I'm betting that you're the only one at the station who suspects we have anything to do with this murder, correct?" Piper questioned.

His silence was all she needed to hear.

"So then how about you leave us the hell alone" she said politely before walking out of reception towards the exit.

"Well I'll just head up to talk to some of his colleagues once again, see you around Ms Halliwell" he said as Piper stalked off.

As she was about to reach the door her phone started to ring, she picked it up without glancing at the caller ID, wondering who it was.

"Piper thank God" Prue's voice said.

"Can you meet us at the hospital? Phoebe had a vision of Shax attacking Cortez there".

Piper's blood ran cold, "Oh no" she said as she ran back into the hospital desperately searching for the Inspector.

"Piper, Piper!" she could hear Prue's voice on the phone, she raised it back to her ear.

"Prue, I'm already at the hospital, dammit I was just talking to him".

"You are?" Prue said, confusion clouding her voice.

"I'll explain later but get here as fast as you can, I'll go look for him".

"Be careful" Prue said before she hung up.

Piper ran back to the reception desk and asked the nurse there if she had seen Inspector Cortez, she hadn't.

Piper was totally lost, she had no clue where he could be. Until she felt the chill.

Piper looked around the corridor, she looked at the sign on the wall, "Cardiology", Dr Griffiths had been a Cardiac surgeon and Cortez said he was going to talk to some of his colleagues, she must be headed in the right direction, when in doubt, follow the wind.

She could feel it everywhere now that she'd noticed it, Shax was here and he was close, she ran into the entrance to the department and saw Cortez talking to a nurse by the reception desk.

A chill ran through Piper, from head to toe as the doors behind her exploded and a huge tornado swept in, Piper ran towards Cortez, hoping to get to him quickly. He looked behind her in disbelief.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, clearly frightened.

"Uh, it's a demon, and we need to go, now!" Piper yelled as she took the Inspector's arm and ran with him to the other end of the unit, luckily it seemed to be empty, she guessed a lot of people were going elsewhere for their surgeries now that this hospital no longer had their expert.

"This way!" Piper called back as she kicked open the fire exit door and dragged Cortez through with her.

Shax followed quickly, as they made their way down the pathway out of the back of the building the tornado whipped past Piper and Cortez and Shax rematerialized in front of them.

"I always thought evil magic existed, but this is something else" Cortez breathed as he took Shax in.

Piper looked closely, he seemed to be even more terrifying to look at than last time, bulging blue muscles, long white hair and a trailing blue cloak.

Piper's phone was ringing again, she handed it to Cortez and ordered him to answer.

"Uh, it's your sister" he said, looking irritated.

"Tell them we're around the back" Piper said hurriedly.

Cortez just stood there, Piper rolled her eyes and turned her head back around.

"Let me put it another way, if you want us to live then tell them!" she barked.

Cortez quickly whispered their location over the phone before hanging up.

Shax wasn't going to wait any longer, he was hungry for the kill.

He raised his arm and shot a blast of wind slicing through the air, it looked sharp enough to cut through metal, let alone two humans.

Piper raised her arms and froze the wind mid-air.

"How the hell did you do that?" Cortez questioned.

Piper ignored him and raised her arms again, blowing Shax away into the air and further down the path.

Piper grabbed Cortez' hand and they began to run again, they made it to the corner and almost collided with Prue and Phoebe.

"Oh thank God" Piper exclaimed in relief.

"Could you use some help sis?" Phoebe asked, smiling.

"You could say that" Piper answered.

Shax was up again and gliding on the wind towards them, Prue raised her hand and made the previously frozen blade of wind shoot into Shax, knocking him to the ground.

He stood, smiling. "It's been a while since I've had a good fight" he boomed menacingly.

"Team-up?" Prue asked Phoebe.

She nodded and together they ran to Shax, Prue holding Phoebe's hand as she levitated partially into the air and performed an air spinning kick into Shax' head, sending him reeling back into a brick wall.

Prue then launched herself into the air with her telekinesis, and landed with her legs around Shax' neck pulling him down to the ground so that Phoebe could levitate back into the air and perform a devastating elbow to the stomach, leaving Shax gasping for air.

"Why am I always the cheerleader?" Prue heard Piper ask in the background.

She smiled as she used her palm to smack Shax in the nose as he stood, black blood came streaming out and ran down his face. He licked his lips, apparently enjoying himself.

Shax raised his arm and send wind pulsing through the air, sending Phoebe flying back into a car window, leaving a spider-web of cracks on it.

Prue turned back round after checking that Phoebe was ok, she began to engage Shax in hand to hand combat.

It was a fight to behold, Shax raised his hand, Prue countered it, Prue raised her leg to kick him only for Shax to knock it back down. They were equal Piper thought as she watched through her covered face, she could hardly bare to watch exchanges like this so she always covered her eyes with her hands and watched through them whilst gritting her teeth.

Phoebe got to her feet and ran back to Piper, unfolding a piece of paper as she got to her sister.

"The vanquishing spell" Piper acknowledged.

They needed Prue to come back so they could say the spell and get this over and done with, in all the chaos Piper had forgotten about Cortez who she assumed was hiding behind her, of course not she thought as she turned to her right to see him advancing towards the duelling duo with his gun out.

"Put your hands up, you monster!" he shouted as he let loose a few rounds into Shax' chest, Prue dove to the ground to avoid the shots and crawled her way back to her sisters.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Prue shouted at him as she got up.

"Putting a murderer to bed" he answered.

But it was no use, Shax took the bullets as though they were made of paper, he advanced on the Inspector.

"Ok now!" Phoebe said as she scrambled to get the piece of paper in a position where all three of them could see it.

They began to chant.

" _Evil wind that blows"_

Shax raised his hand smiling.

" _That which forms below"_

He let loose one final, cutting blast of wind at the Inspector as he began to explode.

" _No longer may you dwell,_

 _Death takes you with this spell!"_

The sisters could only watch in horror as the blade of wind cut Cortez clean in half, his top and bottom halves falling to the ground with a slump.

Shax screamed his final scream as he cascaded into a shower of fireworks, leaving a huge crater in the ground where he once stood.

Piper turned away and began to vomit at the sight of the body.

Prue rubbed her back comfortingly.

Phoebe looked at Cortez, she didn't know why, but she was fascinated by the remains before turning back to her sisters, shaking herself back to normality.

"You ok Phoebe?" Prue asked.

"Yeah, just feel bad for him is all, he was only doing his job".

Prue nodded. "I'll call Darryl, someone needs to clean this up".

The Seer smiled, her plan had worked so far, Shax had not gotten in the way of that, now she had to get the tall man away from the sisters, she had already planted a vision in Phoebe's brain without noticing, she could probably do so again without raising suspicions.

"I know it was you Seer" a chilling voice said behind her.

She gasped as she whirled round, face to face with The Source, all her power of premonition and she hadn't seen this coming.

"I don't know what you mean my liege" she said calmly.

He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.

"You forget Seer, I am tapped into Phoebe's mind now, I see what she sees, try to influence what she does and where to take her next" he hissed.

"She didn't get that premonition naturally".

The Seer didn't know what to do, but she knew she couldn't die, not now, not after all these centuries and all her careful planning.

She did as women have done for centuries when confronted with an angry, violent man, she kneed him where it hurt the most.

She dropped to the floor and teleported away in a wave of indigo light.

Years later they'd say you could hear the scream of rage The Source let loose across the whole Underworld for miles.

End of Chapter Eight, stay tuned for Chapter Nine: "In Which it all Goes to Hallihell".


	9. It All Goes to Hallihell

Charmed Reborn Chapter Nine: "In Which it all Goes to Hallihell"

Prue Halliwell sat in front of her mirror applying make-up, she was excited, it had been two weeks since her and her sisters had finally vanquished Shax, one of The Source's top assassins, and they hadn't heard anything since, at first she was wary, but now she was enjoying herself, tonight especially should be a good night, as her friend from England Will was in town and wanted to meet up for dinner, she couldn't help but blush, she liked him a lot, and there was the whole witches united against warlocks thing that helped them to bond. She had a good feeling. One she hadn't had since Andy died.

She heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in!" she answered.

Phoebe popped her head in, Prue smiled, she was proud of her sister, whatever she was feeling before had started to fix itself, Phoebe was getting back to normal and she was happy for her younger sibling, Phoebe never gave up no matter what.

"You look beautiful!" Phoebe squealed like a teenager.

She raced over to Prue's dressing table to help her pick out a lipstick.

"Hmmm" Prue wondered.

"I could go for red and slutty or pink and proper" she mused.

"Well since this is kind of your first date, I'd go with the slutty" Phoebe said mischievously.

"I conquer" Prue replied applying the red lipstick.

She was going to meet Will at a local French restaurant downtown, she'd never been there but had heard great things, and thank God too, she was starving!

Phoebe helped her into a slinky black dress and guided her downstairs in what Prue called her "skimpy heels".

"I don't know how you walk in those things" Phoebe said in awe.

"I practiced using my astral self, to avoid injury" Prue laughed.

"Tut-tut Prue using your powers for personal gain?" Phoebe asked.

"Nah, only for Will's gain".

"Ooh you go get him girl!" Phoebe cheered her older sister on as she walked down the steps to her car.

Phoebe sighed and walked back into the manor, she felt more at peace these days, the odd bit of wooziness but aside from that she was just happy to feel more like herself again.

"That damn Seer!" The Source thundered as he marched into his throne room.

He looked at his top lieutenant now Shax was gone, Titus and snarled.

"Any word of her?"

"No my liege, we had heard talk of some harpies spotting her in the east, but nothing since" Titus replied.

"She is using her power to disrupt my hold on the witch, this will not stand!" he bellowed.

He turned around to face the tall man, "And you better fulfil your end of the bargain, capture the witch for me, so that I may resume control of her, or else".

The tall man bowed his head and glimmered out of the underworld, searching for his prize.

"My liege, why would The Seer help the witch?" Titus pondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but she's definitely up to something, she wouldn't be interrupting my plans unless she had schemes of her own".

The Source sat on his throne and put his hands together, trying to deliberate his next move.

Phoebe sat on the couch watching some TV, mindless fun, she sure had missed this in the underworld, and she had the house to herself, Piper was at P3 tonight.

If only Cole were here, last Phoebe had heard he was dodging some bounty hunters that The Source had sent after him, he didn't like to spend much time here in case he bought those demons back with him, putting her and her sisters in danger. She loved that man.

"Flowers?" Cole said behind her.

Phoebe whirled around, joy filling her chest at the sight of Cole standing in front of her with a mixed bouquet of gorgeous flowers.

"Cole!" she shrieked as she jumped off the couch and straight into Cole's arms, she had missed him so much.

"You're just in time" Phoebe teased as she grabbed his arm and pulled Cole upstairs towards her bedroom.

"Miss Phoebe are you trying to seduce me?" Cole wondered.

"Always" she winked at him.

The next morning Piper sat with Leo in the hospital waiting room, she was waiting to be called in for her results, the doctors had done scans, blood tests, and she had only told Leo about it, her sisters had prodded but she'd told them she was there looking at the memorial to Dr Griffiths, she didn't want to make something out of nothing and get them worried for no reason, Lord knows they had enough to be stressed about already.

"Piper Halliwell?" Dr Cameron called.

Piper liked her, she was an expert in in the field of fertility and knew she'd come to the right place for her tests.

"Please sit" she directed to Piper and Leo.

Piper waited, anxious at what was about to be said, her hand was trembling slightly, but Leo took hold of it and held it still for her, he really is an angel Piper thought as she turned to look at her husband and nod her thanks.

"Well first things first, in terms of your blood tests there is nothing wrong with you, nothing abnormal, all hormones in normal ranges".

Piper breathed a sigh of relief, the mind goes to dark places when it looks like your health is in danger.

"But" the doctor said pointedly.

Piper's heart started to race, she knew something was wrong, she'd always trusted her intuition.

"Please, just tell us" she asked.

"Your scans indicated a lot of scar tissue around the womb area, also in the lower part of your stomach, this kind of trauma usually only occurs when you've been in a lot of fights, or thrown around a lot" the doctor began to glare at Leo who frowned.

"Oh God no, it's not Leo's fault, I'm just really clumsy, I own a club, lots of spillages on the floor, lots of stairs".

"Hmmm" the doctor said.

"Well, anyways, what does that mean for us?" Piper queried.

The doctor sighed.

"It means you are going to have a difficult time getting pregnant" the doctor surmised.

Leo squeezed Piper's hand, which only made her feel worse.

Once the appointment was over and they'd gotten back in the car Piper hung her head and began to sob.

Leo took her hand and kissed it.

"Don't worry honey" he said quietly.

"I just don't understand, we went to the future and saw our daughter".

"I know, which means we still probably will someday" Leo said.

"I hope so" Piper said between sobs.

She lowered her head into Leo's shoulder and wept.

"Prue?!" Phoebe yelled as she wandered around the manor, Piper had left early this morning and she hadn't seen Prue since last night, she was desperate to know how her date had gone with Will.

Phoebe made her way back upstairs and knocked on Prue's bedroom door.

"Hello?" she asked as she peered in.

Nothing. The bed hadn't even been touched.

Looks like the date had maybe gone a little too well Phoebe thought as she smiled and made her way back downstairs for something to eat.

The phone started to ring, Phoebe raced down to answer.

"Hello?"

"Uh Hi, I was wondering if I could peak to Prue?" a British man asked.

"Oh, you must be Will" Phoebe teased.

"Haha, I guess she mentioned me, which is a good sign, but we were supposed to meet for dinner last night and she never showed, I thought maybe she'd tried to leave a message and it hadn't gone through?" he asked hopefully.

Phoebe went cold.

"Um, ok that's weird because last time I saw her she was all dressed up and on her way to go see you".

"You know what? I'm gonna go talk to my other sister and our whitelighter and I'll call you back ok?" Phoebe said as she slammed the phone down, panicking.

"Leo!" she yelled.

Leo orbed in looking concerned.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Prue's missing, come on let's orb to P3 I need Piper's help" she said whilst grabbing a jacket.

"Uh, sure. But I don't know how much help she's gonna be to you right now".

"Why?" Phoebe asked.

Piper looked up at the ceiling of her club, she never noticed how blue it was before, blue for a boy, pink for a girl, not like the baby she would ever have.

She grabbed the whiskey bottle lying near her, wanting to drown her sorrows some more, she figured she was entitled to one day of sorrow before getting back on the saddle.

"Is anyone here?" a voice called.

Piper poked her head up from behind the bar and spotted a young woman walking down the steps towards the bar.

"Oh, someone's here" the girl said, relieved.

Piper stood, feeling fairly embarrassed.

"How can I help you?" she managed to get out.

"Well I was just looking for some information, I was asked to come and speak to a Piper Halliwell about a case of domestic violence".

Piper thought she had misheard the woman.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"Ok, I'm gonna level with you, this is my first day of being an actual social worker, my boss sent me here because a doctor at the hospital had some concerns that you were being abused by your husband".

Piper shook her head, she couldn't believe Dr Cameron had done this, she was definitely not going to see her again.

She plastered on her best smile.

"I'm sorry to make this so uneventful for your first day but honestly, there is no abuse story here, I am happily married to a wonderful man".

Piper was starting to slur, "Do you want a drink?" she tried to ask politely.

"Oh, no I don't drink" the woman added.

"Though I will say I love your club Ms Halliwell, I've been here a few times in my spare time, it's pretty great".

"Thank you, it's always nice to hear happy customers".

Piper noticed a glow over in the back of the room, at first she thought it was a drunken illusion before seeing both Leo and Phoebe orbing in.

"Oh my God!" Piper yelped.

"What is it?" the woman asked, concerned.

"Oh nothing, just a cramp in my foot" Piper said.

"Stood still for too long".

"Well, I better be going, but if you wanna talk, here's my card".

The woman handed it over to Piper who took it sheepishly whilst gesturing with her head that Leo and Phoebe should shuffle their way slowly into the back room to avoid being seen by the woman.

"Paige Matthews" the card read.

Interesting, Piper took a good look at her as she walked out of the club, she was gorgeous, pure white skin and big brown eyes, she looked like one of their ancestors sort of, she didn't remember which one though.

"Are you two nuts?!" she yelled at Leo and Phoebe as they walked out of the back.

"It's not my fault, I'm not the one with sensing powers" Phoebe said whilst glaring at Leo.

"Thanks for that Phoebe" Leo grimaced.

"What's up anyway?" Piper asked as she burped.

Phoebe raised her eyebrows smelling the whiskey.

"Had a rough morning?" she emphasized the morning part in particular.

"I don't need judgement from my baby sister thank you, just tell me".

"Prue's missing" Phoebe said, worry on her face.

The Seer made her way slowly back towards The Source's chambers, she was cloaked in an invisibility shield, a good friend from the windy city had crafted it for her, she needed to spy, there was only so much her visions would show her.

She wandered into the back of the room, it looked like a meeting was in session.

"You bought me the wrong one!" The Source barked at the tall man, who cowered behind the throne.

What could he mean? She wondered before looking to her right and fought back a gasp, it was Prue, trapped in the same cage Phoebe had been all those months ago.

"What do you mean the wrong one?" Prue asked.

"Silence!" The Source ordered, he waved his hand and Prue's voice vanished, unable to speak she gave in and sat there, choosing to listen instead.

"This will work fine though, she can be bait, go" he ordered the tall man who glimmered away.

"Are you out of your mind!?" Piper yelled as Phoebe opened her bag and produced the book of shadows.

"We never take the book out of the house!" she continued.

"Piper, please just chill for a second, this is an emergency and I thought I should bring it along just in case".

"Leo agreed with me" she added.

Piper turned her head to Leo and folded her arms, giving him THAT look.

"You really are trying to screw my day up aren't you Phoebe?" he asked.

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders and thumbed through the book, she came across a new entry to the book, "To Vanquish Der Grossmann".

"Huh, this is new" she said whilst looking it over.

The page had a huge picture of a very tall man in rags.

"Says he sucks victims into his being to transport them to parts unknown" Piper read over Phoebe's shoulder.

"You think this is who took Prue?" she asked.

"Maybe" Phoebe said.

"I dunno though Phoebs, this page is giving me a weird vibe like all those others we've seen recently, like they aren't supposed to be there".

"Will you see what you can find out?" she asked Leo.

"Sure" he said as he orbed out.

"Well we can't use this spell anyway, says here it can only be said by another evil being" Piper pointed out.

"Too bad Cole's not still evil" she said.

The meeting was over, the demons cleared out. The Seer made her way slowly to the front of the room, she waved her hand to give Prue her voice back.

"Don't think I don't know you're there Seer" The Source said, sitting in his throne.

"I can smell the mediocrity from here" he sneered.

The Seer took away her shield, it wasn't going to do her much good now anyway she supposed.

"It's you" Prue gasped.

"So my theory was right, you have been helping the witches".

Prue shut her mouth tight, almost kicking herself for dropping The Seer in it, looked like she was already in The Source's bad books anyway though.

"I will do whatever it takes to put my plans into action" The Seer stood tall.

"That's what I've always admired about you, Lamia" The Source smiled as he used her real name.

"So much ambition".

The Seer knew this was her only chance, she waved her arm and the magical cage she created came apart, letting Prue free.

"Take this!" she yelled as she threw Prue something.

"Eat it!" she screamed as a fireball hurtled into her sending her to the wasteland.

Prue quickly ate the minty herb and felt instantly perked up, powerful even.

She raised her arm as The Source turned to face her and sent him flying back into a wall on the other side of the room, this was good stuff she thought as she concentrated and astraled her body to the world above.

The tall man materialized into P3, looking around, Piper noticed him first.

"Phoebe!" she yelled as the two of them ducked, the tall man threw a bolt of lightning towards them which missed as they both hit the floor.

Piper stood and tried to blow him up to no avail, it had no effect on him whatsoever, only evil witches could face this monster.

Phoebe stood slowly, telling Piper to hold the book open on the "Der Grossmann" page.

Phoebe moved to stand behind Piper, reading the vanquishing spell from over her shoulder.

" _The tall man who feeds on sucking light,_

 _Be gone from this world I say by my might,_

 _Let the darkness take you away,_

 _And be vanquished by these words this evil witch say"._

The tall man looked up in shock as he exploded into flames.

"Phoebe, how?" Piper asked, shocked.

Phoebe turned to look at her sister, Piper gasped as she noticed Phoebe's eyes had gone completely black, they looked pure evil, devoid of any light.

She didn't get a chance to say anymore because Phoebe bought up her fist and punched her square in the face, knocking her out, the book dropping to the floor.

Phoebe made to grab it only for it to produce a forcefield made of light and repel her, throwing her back onto the floor.

"Meh, don't need it anyway" she said to herself as she stood.

Prue felt the familiar sensation of astral travel and looked up, she was in P3, Piper was on the floor, Phoebe stood over her, the book of shadows was across the room.

"Phoebe thank God, is Piper ok?" Prue said as she came rushing over to her sisters.

Prue looked Piper over, aside from a nasty lump on her head she seemed fine, Leo could heal this later no problem.

"You remember that Seer who helped us rescue you before?" Prue asked as she lifted Piper up onto a sofa at the back of the room.

"Well apparently she's been helping us this whole time, but The Source killed her, she helped me escape" Prue trailed off as she looked at Phoebe for the first time properly.

She was smiling, and her eyes were black.

"Phoebe what's going on?" Prue asked, horror creeping over her.

"Oh nothing, just realizing my true self, it's amazing how good it can feel to finally relinquish good, morality is far too confusing" she winked at Prue.

"Oh and good luck by the way" Phoebe said lightly.

"You're going to need it" she laughed as she teleported away into a huge wave of flame.

Prue sank to her knees, unable to grasp what had just happened. Had she really just lost her baby sister to evil?

Phoebe flamed into The Source's throne room, smiling.

She kicked a pile of ash to the side as she approached him.

She got on one knee.

"My liege" she said, her eyes full of darkness.

"Rise" he commanded.

"I hear your Seer is dead" Phoebe stated blankly.

"That's right" he said.

"I guess that means you have a job opening?" Phoebe asked.

The Source smiled.

End of Chapter Nine, stay tuned for Chapter Ten: "Phoebs?"


	10. Phoebs?

Charmed Reborn Chapter Ten: "Phoebs?"

So bright. So much light. The Seer covered her eyes as she glided upwards, through a cascade of colour, purples, blues, pinks, she had no idea where she was, she looked down, she was naked as the day she'd been born, her body wiped clean, fresh, as if nothing had ever touched it.

She tried to speak, but nothing came out, just silence, what did she remember? Everything. All things. All of time and space ran through her head, she could see it all, what had come to pass, what might come, what it presently is.

She looked up again, she was nearing a platform, it was in the sky, but somehow it also wasn't, it kept fading in and out of existence, like nothing here was stable, always changing. Always shifting.

She reached the platform and her feet touched down, there were others with her, people in blue robes, were these the elders?

"No" a voice said in her head.

The Seer looked around, startled, wondering where the voice had come from.

A woman stepped forward, she was beautiful, dark skin, knowledgeable eyes, who was she?  
"I am Destiny" the voice spoke again.

"We are all destiny" she raised her arms to the people around her.

"We exist in a dimension separate from your own".

"We watch everything, we know everything".

"But I died, didn't I?" The Seer asked.

"Yes. And no" she answered.

"We intervened, you might say" the woman smiled.

"And what happens now?" The Seer asked.

"Now, you go back, and fulfil your destiny".

A bright, white light filled The Seer's eyes, she felt a strange sensation, like she had been floating through air and was headed downwards in a hurricane, she span round and around until everything was still.

She opened her eyes, she saw the sky, bright blue, it looked like early morning, now where was she?

She stood and looked down at herself, her scars were back, her red robes were back, she felt her pulse, she was alive, but how?  
Now she knew that what she had been planning, all her schemes that she had been plotting, were righteous ones, why else would destiny intervene and allow her to continue living, with destiny on her side, how could she possibly lose? The Seer faded away into the wind in a wave of indigo light.

Prue pulled into the driveway at the manor, just sitting there, thinking. Piper was in the back seat still unconscious, what would she tell her? That their sister had chosen evil over them? It would crush her, but she had no choice.

She got out the car and pulled open the back door, reaching into the back seat to shake her sister awake.

"Eurgh" Piper groaned as she sat up, her hand covering the nasty bruise on her head.

"What the heck is going on?" she asked.

She sat bolt upright.

"Phoebe?" she asked looking around wildly.

"Just me" Prue said, looking down.

"Prue?" Piper asked.

"But how? I thought you were in the underworld?"

"Not anymore, come on, I'll help you inside and explain".

Ten minutes later both sisters sat at the kitchen table, mugs of hot coffee between their hands, not saying much at all. What was there to say? Prue thought.

"There must be a way to get her back" Piper said for the fifth time.

"All those weird spells in the book, we should have taken more notice of them" she continued.

"I still don't really understand what even happened" Prue said.

"Maybe I can help" a voice said.

The sisters stood, looking around, wondering where the voice had come from.

The Seer appeared in the kitchen, looking healthy and alive.

"Huh?" Prue asked.

"But I thought?"

"It takes a lot more than a fireball to kill me" she said, looking proud.

"What are you doing here?" Piper asked.

"Believe it or not, once again I want to help you, but this time, I want to help you destroy The Source".

"And how are we supposed to do that without the power of three?" Piper questioned.

"By getting it back" The Seer as if it were the most obvious answer anyone could give.

Piper rolled her eyes and sat back down.

"Let's just listen to her ok Piper?" Prue begged.

"Go on" she pushed.

"The reason your sister is now evil is because of The Source, when he kept her in that chamber for months you didn't think he had her just sit there rotting did you?" she raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Phoebe said that he tortured her" Prue said.

"Yes and no".

"He was invading, infecting her mind, with evil, a gradual, slow process, slowly working his way in so that she wouldn't immediately notice, to do so he had to infuse Phoebe with some of his own essence, it is this essence that has swayed her morality".

"So it's not even Phoebe?" Piper asked.

"Oh yes, it is, but right now, she's shall we say, not herself, she is not being controlled, but the essence is what has turned her" The Seer concluded.

"So how do we remove the essence?" Prue wondered.

"There is no way to outright remove it, but if we can get Phoebe to remember that she is truly good, her mind would reject the essence and return her morality to good".

"So how do we do that?" Piper queried.

"You're her sisters, figure it out!" The Seer said as she vanished again.

"Well, I guess we need to find Phoebe then" Prue concluded.

"Well Leo won't be able to sense her anymore, we won't be able to scry for her anymore, so how?" Piper asked.

"I know a guy" Prue said, smiling.

Phoebe sat in The Seer's chambers, her chambers now, it was so dank and dull, she waved her arm and fairy lights appeared across the ceiling, she waved it again and a cream carpet sprung up from the ground, she liked her new powers.

She found the wardrobe, thank God she thought, she opened it only to find a dozen sets of red robes, seriously? She thought.

She put the robes on and looked at herself in the mirror, way too frumpy, she waved her hand over the robes and they turned into a red latex suit, too Britney Spears she thought as she waved it again and it turned black, that's more my colour she thought as she closed the wardrobe and turned around.

The Source was waiting for her.

"Very nice" he said appreciating of her attire.

"Thanks, I thought so".

"I have a mission for you my new assassin".

"Oh yeah, is it fun?" she asked.

"Very".

"I want you to hunt down all the innocents you've saved in the past, and kill them, starting with one of your own" he said handing her a scroll of parchment before flaming out of the chamber.

Phoebe looked down at the parchment and smirked.

"Hmm, too many Brittany's today" she said to herself.

"I'm glad you're ok Prue, I was pretty worried" Will said.

Prue had called him immediately when they remembered what his power was, to sense and find objects and people, which is exactly what they needed right now.

"I'm so sorry about our date, or lack thereof" Prue said sadly.

"It's ok, once this is all over we're going to try again, right?" he looked to her for approval.

Prue smiled, "definitely".

"Hello people! Evil missing sister alert!" Piper exclaimed.

Prue put her arm around Piper's shoulder in comfort to try and calm her down.

Prue nodded to Will, who closed his eyes and concentrated.

Less than 2 seconds later his eyes flew open.

"Quick give me some paper and a pen".

Prue scrambled to find him some and shoved them into his hands where he hurriedly wrote something down.

"Here" he handed them the paper.

"An address?" Piper asked.

"This is where Phoebe is, I think".

"You think?" Piper questioned.

"Well, it hasn't let me down yet" he said whilst standing up.

Piper looked closely at the paper.

"Huh" she said.

"What is it?" Prue asked.

"I feel like I know this address, lemme go check the address book".

Piper scurried off to find it.

At that moment Cole shimmered in, a big smile plastered on his face.

"Ahh Prue, good to see you" he turned to Will.

"And you, whoever you are, where's Phoebe?" he wondered.

Prue looked down to the floor, unsure what to say.

"Sorry mate, she's gone banana's" Will piped up.

Prue shot daggers his way.

"Huh?" Cole wondered.

"The Source has managed to turn her evil by infusing Phoebe with his essence, it's why she's been having such a hard time lately" Prue explained.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"Last night" Prue said.

Cole looked furious.

"Why didn't you call me?!"

"I could have helped somehow!"

"Oh yeah, how?" Prue countered.

"All that would have mattered is that I was there, but you and Piper have denied me that" he said angrily.

Prue felt pretty bad, in all honesty she had completely forgotten about Cole.

"Well it's not like you've been around much lately" she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess being kidnapped by The Source and then evading bounty hunters so they don't come here is an inconvenience to you" he shot Prue a look of rage and then promptly shimmered back out.

"Ouch" Will said.

"Yeah, I can't believe we didn't call for him sooner" Prue said, feeling rather stupid.

"He'll get over it, it's a man thing" Will explained.

Piper ran back into the living room.

"I knew I recognised it, look!" she thrust the book into Prue's hands and pointed out the same address.

"But what on Earth would Phoebe be doing there?" Prue wondered.

"Dunno, but it can't be anything good".

"Leo!" they both yelled at the ceiling.

Brittany Reynolds sat in her apartment reading, she had the afternoon off so why not do something she enjoyed?

The doorbell rang, dammit she thought as she put her book down and made her way to the front door.

She opened the door and was startled to see a face she hadn't seen in many years, it was Phoebe Halliwell.

"Phoebe, oh my God, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"It's been so long" she stuttered.

"Yes it has, hasn't it?" Phoebe said sickly sweet.

"I was in the neighbourhood, figured we could catch up" she said innocently.

"Oh well, I'm actually kinda busy right now….." she said.

But Phoebe cut her off sharply.

"You wouldn't deny an old friend a drink now would you?" she questioned.

"Well I…" she started to say before Phoebe raised her fist and punched her in the face, the force of it knocking her back into the apartment.

"What the hell? Phoebe what is wrong with you?" she shouted as she held her nose, blood slowly dripping out.

"Well, you see, I have this problem with the name Brittany, it makes me think of cheerleaders and school girl outfits and frankly it just makes me wanna puke" Phoebe explained, voice dripping with contempt.

"What happened to you?" Brittany asked, terrified.

Before Phoebe could properly reply she stopped moving, completely immobilized.

"Thank God" came another voice Brittany hadn't heard in a long time.

Behind Phoebe stood Prue, Piper and a handsome blond man she didn't recognise.

Leo bent down to heal her nose, his hands turned golden and a wave of healing, soothing light fixed it in a second.

"Brittany are you ok?" Piper asked.

"Yeah I guess, but what the hell happened to your sister?" she asked.

"That's what we're still kinda trying to figure out" Prue said exasperatingly.

"Leo will take care of you until we sort this all out ok?" Piper queried.

"Sure, but how?" Brittany wondered.

"Like this" Leo said as he grabbed her hand and the two of them orbed away.

The sisters turned to look at Phoebe, frozen solid in the air.

"Now what?" Piper asked.

"We need to show her she's good" Prue said confidently.

"Unfreeze her".

"Ok" Piper said, raising her arms and unfreezing Phoebe.

If she was surprised to see the two of them she didn't show it, if anything she just looked annoyed.

"Oh, it's you two, great, here to give me a lecture?" she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Phoebe, you're good, remember that" Prue said.

Piper turned to look at her.

"That's it?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah I have to admit Prue, not some of your best work" Phoebe agreed.

"Anyways, I've finished college, so no more lectures thank you".

Phoebe turned to leave.

"Phoebe wait!" Piper shouted.

"You can't just leave, we're your sisters, we love you and we want you to come home, The Source has infected you, bent your mind to his will, we can stop it if we try!" Piper exclaimed.

Phoebe looked to Prue.

"You should be taking pointers from Piper" Phoebe said with a nasty smile.

"Well how about this then, how's Cole?" Prue asked.

An electric current seemed to run through Phoebe momentarily, for a second she looked like a small child, her eyes showing signs of love, but it was quickly squashed down as the essence took hold once again.

"Nice try, but he's not needed, I've got all the demon I want!" Phoebe yelled as she raised her hands and waves of fire shot out of them, setting the apartment on fire and blowing Prue and Piper into a window.

They looked up. Phoebe was gone.

"Dammit!" Piper yelled as she stood, freezing the flames as she did so.

The two of them ran to the sink and filled up some buckets of water to tip onto the fire.

"I think we've lost her Prue" Piper said, defeated.

"I don't agree, did you see her face when I mentioned Cole?"

"She did look startled" Piper agreed.

"He's our way in" Prue said.

"Tell me Seer, can she be saved?" Cole asked her.

He had tracked her down in a remote part of the underworld.

Or rather, though she hadn't told him this, she had let him track her down.

"She can be, but only with your help, your love, the passion you two share, will reignite her mind, reversing her morality" she explained.

"But how do I do that?" he questioned.

"By making the ultimate sacrifice" she said with finality

"There must be another way" he said, not believing her.

"And I'll find it, I'll get her back myself" he shimmered out.

He snuck into Phoebe's new chambers that used to belong to The Seer, he looked around, he couldn't see Phoebe anywhere.

Until a huge geyser of flame erupted from the well in the centre, shooting Phoebe out from within.

He ran to her but she raised her hands and pushed him back, the force of her push knocking him down on to the ground. She had gotten strong, no doubt a side effect of the essence within her.

"Phoebe, please, I know you're in there, I can help you, it's me" he said.

"Yes it is, and you're still just as pathetic as usual, unable to accept the true you, the inner Belthazor, what did I ever even see in you?" she asked nastily.

Cole stood, not backing down on this.

"I won't leave" he stated.

"Then I'll just have to make you" she said, eager for a fight.

"I won't fight you either, you're the woman I love, the only woman I will ever love".

Phoebe cracked, she looked down at her hands, they were shaking, she felt a cold sweat on her lower back, what was going on? Where was she?

"Cole?" she asked, looking up.

She ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely.

"I don't understand, what is going on?" she asked him.

"I don't need to explain right now, just know that you're safe with me".

"Well you're not safe with me" Phoebe said.

Cole looked down, she was smiling and her eyes had gone black, no, he had lost her again, the essence of The Source was too strong and had regained control.

"You should have just said if you wanted some alone time with me" she smiled sadistically.

Cole pushed her away, this wasn't Phoebe, and now he knew what he needed to do.

He looked at her sadly.

"I love you" he whispered before shimmering away.

"How sweet" a chilling voice said.

The Source appeared in a cascade of flame along with a woman tied up by his feet, who was she? Phoebe wondered.

"I've had enough of interruptions, you will seal your conversion to the evil side or else!" he boomed, producing an athame from his robes.

Phoebe stepped towards him, grabbed the athame and turned the girl over as The Source backed away behind her, as soon as she saw the girl's face Phoebe was thrown into a premonition, a young girl, a witch, who owned a magic shop, she could see Darryl pulling the girl to the ground before her shop exploded. Her eyes opened as the vision ended, it was the past, and now Phoebe knew who this girl was, it was Marcy Steadwell, an innocent they had saved from an assassin two years previously. Phoebe's hands began to tremble, she couldn't do it, she was confused, what was happening to her? She backed away slowly and almost tripped on The Source's feet.

"Such a disappointment" he snarled.

Then everything went black.

Phoebe awoke on the ground, unsure of what time it was, but then she realised, she was in her chambers, she stood, almost slipping on something, she looked down. Blood.

Her eyes trailed across the room and found the body of Marcy Steadwell by the bed, covered in stab wounds. What had she done?

"I admire your work Phoebe, good job" The Source said behind her, almost purring with satisfaction.

"What do you have to say?" he asked.

She couldn't see him wave his arm behind her to resume control over her mind, her eyes went black, she smiled.

"I think that was fun" she said darkly.

"I have what you wanted, my liege" Titus said.

"It'll be noticed quickly, so whatever you're planning on doing, I'd do it quickly" he added.

The Seer smiled.

"My liege, I could get used to that" she said contently.

She took the Grimoire from Titus' hands, now it was time for her plan to come to fruition, she had moved all the players into the right spot. Now it was time for the games to begin.

End of Chapter Ten, stay tuned for Chapter Eleven: "The Sting of Betrayal".


	11. The Sting of Betrayal

Charmed Reborn Chapter Eleven: "The Sting of Betrayal"

Piper was in the attic, looking through the book of shadows, hoping against all hope that something new, something good had been added, something that would help them to get Phoebe back, or vanquish The Source, preferably both. But at this point she'd take either.

Leo walked in, he frowned.

"You were in the exact same position two hours ago" he said.

"Yep, and I'll probably be here for another two hours" she tried to joke, but her heart just wasn't in it.

"God, this has been such a crappy year, between Phoebe and my barren womb".

"Hey, stop that, you're not barren, it's just gonna take some time is all, we'll get there, I know it" he said soothingly.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" he smiled.

"Whenever I'm at my lowest you just swoop right in and manage to make everything feel ok again, I think sometimes you have some kind of whitelighter healing voice" she mused.

"I wish" he murmured.

"Come on, come downstairs with me, Prue could use your help, you're the potions whiz and she's trying to make all kinds of concoctions for different things, stunning, freezing and various poisons".

"Prue is more than capable of making some potions" Piper said.

"Well, she's already melted one cauldron, what's a few more right?"

Piper laughed, despite everything that had happened, and what might or might not happen, at least she still had Leo.

"Fine, I give in" she said, raising her arms so Leo could pull her up.

"This book is useless anyway".

Prue sat at the kitchen table, her potions on the side, they hadn't gone very well, give her a demon to beat up and she could do it no problem, but the finesse of potion making was better suited to her younger siblings.

"I feel so lost" she said to herself.

"Don't be" a voice echoed throughout the room.

Prue raised her head, looking around, had she imagined that?

She hadn't, a huge swirling light appeared in the middle of the kitchen, forming a figure, it was mom.

A tear leaked from Prue's eye.

"Mom, I am such a failure" she sobbed.

"Enough of that" Patty said.

Prue looked up.

"You haven't failed at all, only if you give up will that happen".

"Mom, I don't know what to do, Phoebe is…"

"Phoebe is fine, it's not too late, you can save her, she's an innocent, and your job is to save innocents, I haven't ever seen you give up on one yet" she said proudly.

"You're my daughter, I know you can do this, if you need inspiration, then look to your family".

Prue nodded, unsure of what she meant.

"Good luck sweetie, and blessed be" Patty smiled sadly as she vanished back into the afterlife.

"Prue are you ok?" Piper asked, appearing with Leo in the doorway.

Prue wiped her eye.

"Yeah I am, surprisingly. I actually have an idea of how we can vanquish The Source, but we'll need Phoebe first".

Phoebe sat in The Source's throne room, in a smaller chair to his left, not really listening, his top lieutenants were there, all trying to come up with ideas for killing her sisters. She found the topic incredibly boring and just wanted to get on with it, but she had been forbidden from speaking, so for now she stayed silent.

"Why not ask her?" a demon called Julie asked pointing at Phoebe.

Phoebe didn't like her, she was blonde and overtly sexy, trying to catch the eyes of other demons, she thought it was pathetic.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and looked to The Source for permission, he nodded.

"My sisters are easy to kill now they don't have the power of three to protect them, haven't you been listening at all?"

Julie looked mad.

"Well forgive me for thinking that maybe you didn't want your own sisters dead?" Julie pushed.

"To me they already are" Phoebe said, bored and checking out her nails.

"My liege!" a demon came running into the room, bowing in front of The Source.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's the Grimoire, we've just had a report from the high priests that it's gone missing".

"Damn all of you to hell!" The Source screamed, laying waste to half of his minions with a fireball of rage.

"That's it, this ends now! I'm tired of waiting, but first, we take out their support" he barked.

Cole stood in a mausoleum, not just any though, this was where his father had been buried, Benjamin Coleridge Turner. He hadn't known him well, he'd died almost a hundred years ago, but still, he felt some pull towards him, the cost of having human blood he supposed, the same reason he had fallen in love with a witch, there was good in him, more so that he ever thought could be, he sighed. There was only one thing in his life worth saving, worth sacrificing himself for, and right now he'd help her no matter what it cost him.

Prue rushed into the attic, Leo and Piper trailing behind.

"And I had just gotten her out of this dank room" Leo said.

Prue heard a thud as Piper whacked him in the chest, she smiled.

"This is what we're looking for" she said as she pulled out the family tree.

"We use the power of our ancestors, along with the power of three to vanquish him" she said, a twinkle in her eye as her plan came together.

"Huh?" Piper looked confused.

"We write a spell invoking the power of our entire line, all the way at the beginning from Melinda Warren to us, calling on the combined good magic of our entire magical line to end him" she finished, looking triumphant.

"That just might work" Leo said, impressed.

"How did you come up with this anyway?" Piper wondered.

"Let's just say I got some sage advice" Prue winked at her sister.

"But you said we need the power of three, we still need Phoebe for that" Piper pointed out.

"Maybe I can help?" Cole asked as he shimmered into the attic.

"Where have you been?" Leo asked him.

"I went down there, hoping to convince Phoebe that she was still good".

"And?" Piper asked.

"It didn't work, it looked like maybe for a moment she was coming around to the idea but the essence that has hold of her is too strong, we need something bigger" Cole said matter of fact.

"We've got the beginnings of a plan, but we need Phoebe and The Source here at the same time" Prue said.

She continued, "I think maybe if Phoebe sees us being attacked by the thing that is possessing her, she may turn back, have her morality swayed back to good".

"It could work, but you're gonna need a hell of a rock solid plan to pull that off" Cole said.

Before the sisters could really think on what to do first, a darklighter orbed into the attic, pointed his loaded crossbow at Leo and fired, getting him in the chest.

"No!" Piper yelled as she raised her hands and blew the darklighter to smithereens.

Leo fell to the floor, shaking.

"Prue help!" Piper yelled.

Prue tried to stay calm for Piper's sake, she slowly moved her hand along the circumference of the arrow, eventually shooting it out of Leo's wound telekinetically.

"How did this happen?" Piper sobbed.

"He came out of nowhere" Prue said.

"It was The Source" Cole stated.

Piper looked up, "But why?" she asked desperately.

"He's coming for you, why else would he try and take out your only healer?"

"Cole's right, which means we need to get ready, and soon" Prue said.

"I can't just leave Leo, we can switch powers and I can heal him again like before" Piper insisted.

"No" Cole said, louder than he intended.

"The Source could be here any minute, if you don't have your powers when he gets here you're screwed".

Cole took charge.

"Prue, stay here with Leo and write the spell".

He looked to Piper, "And we're going to get whatever we can find, crystals, weapons, potions, the whole lot".

Piper nodded and let him lead her away.

Prue sat at the attic table, she was impressed with Cole, she may not be his biggest fan but when push came to shove he was a solid leader, I guess that's what happened when you were a demonic assassin for almost a century.

The Seer surveyed her chambers, what on earth were those ghastly lights covering the walls? Eurgh, good witches she thought, always so intolerable. Still. She had to help this one at least, only for her own interests of course, once she had acquired the power she desired she would be their mortal enemy, good, maybe they wouldn't be as prepared.

She needed some of The Source's blood for her ritual, how she was going to get it she had no clue, the had the element of surprise on her side what with him thinking she was dead, but she doubted that would be enough.

She heard footsteps, she hid behind the wardrobe, she looked out the side, it was Phoebe, evil looked good on her she had to admit, though it was all false. Frankly Phoebe had one of the purest souls she'd ever seen, she had to bite back some bile at the thought of all that good.

It was no good, she had to find some other way to gather the special ingredient, maybe she'd try sneaking around the Halliwell manor, laying in wait until The Source showed up for the big fight.

"So the plan is to begin at P3 and then meet here together at the manor?" Piper double checked.

Prue nodded her head, determined.

"I don't like the idea of you splitting up" Leo sputtered, concerned.

"It won't be so hard" Prue explained.

"I'll lure The Source to P3, fight him there long enough for Piper to set up the crystal cage in the attic, and then astral teleport home, here he'll have a half-demon and two Charmed Ones to contend with, and if he brings Phoebe like I think he will we can turn her back to our side".

"Come on Leo, I'll help you to the bedroom" Cole said, hoisting him up over his shoulder.

The doorbell rang.

"The Source?" Piper asked hurriedly.

Cole sniggered, "I doubt he would use the doorbell".

Piper looked down, embarrassed.

"It's just Darryl" Prue said, looking down through the window, she opened it and invited him to come up and join them.

"We don't really have time for this" Cole said.

"We'll make time, Darryl's done a lot for us" Piper said.

Cole sauntered off with Leo on his shoulder.

The Inspector appeared at the attic doorway a minute later, noting the looks of stress and exhaustion on the Halliwell sisters faces.

"What's going on? Leo looks half dead" he exclaimed.

"We're fine, demon problems is all" Prue said.

"Well, I thought you might want to know that a couple of people with connections to you have recently gone missing" he said.

"Oh you mean Brittany? Don't worry she's fine, Leo cloaked her" Piper explained.

"Wait, you said two people?" Prue asked.

"Yeah, Marcy Steadwell, I remember her actually, her store blew up but me and Phoebe got to her in time".

Prue and Piper exchanged looks.

"Looks like Phoebe was able to complete her mission of killing a past innocent after all" Piper said.

"We don't know it was Phoebe" Prue said, angrily.

"Wait, am I missing something?" Darryl wondered.

"Darryl, will you do us a favour and keep this under wraps for the rest of the day?" Prue asked.

"I know it's asking a lot, but we have kind of a big battle coming up".

"The biggest" Piper added.

"Anything I can do?" he asked worriedly.

"Just keep yourself safe" Prue answered, smiling.

"It's time my brothers and sisters, we will take the fight to the Charmed Ones once and for all! This is the end of the power of three at last!" The Source yelled.

The demons started cheering, fists in the air.

Phoebe thought it was childish, like they were at a boyband concert, she supposed that in a way, The Source was their idol.

"Titus, have you located them?"

"Yes my liege, they've been spotted at the nightclub" he replied.

"Then that is where this shall end".

He turned to Phoebe, "Come my petal, see your sister's deaths by my hand".

Together the two of them erupted into flames and vanished.

Prue paced back and forth, she was nervous, she had to admit, this plan required quite a lot of faith, but it was the faith that she had that was guiding her through this, now it was a case of waiting, not for very long in this case.

They appeared together in a sea of flame, just as she'd hoped.

Phoebe went to sit in the booth they all usually sat in, hopefully by tonight, they'd all be there again, happy and Source free.

"What no minions?" she asked him.

"They've failed me enough over the years, it's time I did this myself".

He looked around.

"Where is your sister hiding?" he wondered.

"Oh she's around, just waiting for the perfect moment".

The Source was tired of banter, he raised his arm and threw a fireball at Prue, she raised her own arm and deflected it back at him, hitting him on the shoulder, he growled with rage but Prue was already on the offensive, she telekinetically flipped herself over The Source's head and kicked him in the back, sending him to his knees, he hissed and let out a wave of flame from his entire being, knocking her over the bar.

She didn't have time to waste, she grabbed a freezing potion from her pocket and threw at him, he started to freeze but only in slow-motion, being far too powerful to fully freeze, still, Prue took this opportunity to send him flying across the dancefloor with her telekinesis.

She jumped over the bar and landed in front of him.

"Ready to tango?" she asked.

The Source stood, furious, he raised his fist to punch Prue but she deflected it with her hand, then landed a punch square in his face, filling it with all the telekinesis she could muster, it sent him back into the wall with a nasty crack. She unhooked an athame from her belt and sent it into The Source's arm, earning a yelp of pain.

It had been long enough she'd decided, she just hoped Piper and Cole were ready.

She looked at Phoebe and teased the two of them.

"Catch me if you can" she turned back to The Source and winked, and then astraled away.

"It was a dirty trick!" The Source shrieked, thunderous.

"It's not like we don't know where she went" Phoebe teased.

"Meet you there?" she asked but flamed away before she got an answer.

The Source followed suit.

The Seer materialised into P3, she had been watching the whole fight through her visions, and now she had just what she wanted.

She made her way over to the back wall and picked up the bloody athame, she smiled, just what I needed she thought before vanishing again.

Piper jumped in fright as Prue astraled into the attic.

"Leo?" Prue asked.

"I was just with him, he's holding on" Piper said.

"The plan?" Piper queried.

"Is a go" Prue confirmed.

Phoebe and The Source flamed into the attic.

"Prue now!" Piper yelled.

Prue looked to her left, Piper had positioned the crystals perfectly, she flicked her wrist and they went flying around Phoebe, trapping her.

Prue flicked her wrist again and sent The Source flying across to the other side of the attic.

"Cole now!" Prue yelled.

He made his way over to Phoebe to try one last time to convince her of who she truly is.

"Listen to me Phoebe, you're the love of my life, a Charmed One and the kindest woman I've ever met, please. You have to remember who you really are, come back to me".

Phoebe sneered, "The love you feel, the love that was in here, makes me sick".

Cole was thrown off his feet by The Source's own telekinesis, landing with a thud behind some boxes.

"No! Stop!" Phoebe yelled as The Source moved the crystals away from her, breaking the cage.

"It's ok my young assassin, he is of no consequence to you now, you are evil, a part of me, accept that and move on" The Source murmured chillingly.

"Don't listen to him Phoebe" Piper begged.

"Remember who you are, you're our sister, we need you" Prue added.

Phoebe sank to her knees, her hands on her head, she had no idea who she was anymore, she was starting to remember, the essence of The Source was beginning to leak out of her, black smoke was billowing out of her nostrils and her eyes.

"If I can't have her, then no one can!" The Source yelled angrily as he smacked Phoebe from behind, knocking her into her sisters.

Prue and Piper grabbed her, and helped her up.

"You don't control me anymore you animal!" Phoebe screamed at him.

"You tell em' Phoebs" Prue said, smiling.

"You have betrayed me" The Source snarled.

"Just as so many before you have".

"I shall deal with you the same way I dealt with them".

The Source clasped his hands together and concentrated, building a massive fireball, gradually pulling his hands apart to contain the energy.

"Goodbye" he said as he threw it directly at The Charmed Ones.

"NOOOOOO!" They heard a yell as Cole shimmered in front of them, he looked back at Phoebe.

"I love you" were his last words.

The two connected eyes, there was nothing Phoebe could do but watch in horror.

And then he was ash, the sisters ducked as Cole was completely obliterated by the fireball, it melted through his skin and down into his body, wiping him from existence.

Piper was the first one up, The Source was advancing on them, she threw up her hands and blew him up, sending him into a form of swirling particles.

Prue helped Phoebe off the floor, she was in shock, couldn't believe what had just happened, she was numb, unable to feel anything or think clearly.

"It's now or never" Prue said pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket.

"Phoebe, be strong, read this with us" Piper said encouragingly.

She looked at the paper as if on auto-pilot, reading the words but not truly taking them in.

As they started to chant The Seer appeared behind The Source, now reformed, he turned to look at her in shock.

"But you're dead!" he exclaimed.

"I have destiny on my side, it appears you do not" she said in disgust.

The Charmed Ones spoke their words at the same time The Seer spoke hers.

" _We call on the Warrens and the Power of Three,_

 _To destroy this being who can no longer be,_

 _The power of three will set us free,_

 _The power of three will set us free."_

" _MALUS INTO EXITUS OMNE!"_

The Source screamed his final scream in terror as he exploded into a billion particles, spreading ash and blasting out the windows of the attic, all that remained was a huge scorch mark on the floor where he once stood.

But a glowing light behind caught the sister's eyes.

"What the hell is that?" Piper wondered.

It was The Seer, she glowed a dark blue colour as her nostrils filled with black essence, she was absorbing all the power of The Source into her being, she lowered herself back to the ground.

She looked up at the sisters, her eyes the purest black.

"I have to thank you" she sneered.

"This wouldn't have been possible without you, or your sacrifices".

Her arms folded as she disappeared in a wave of white hot flame.

"I don't get it" Piper said.

"I think we just created a new Source" Prue said weakly.

Phoebe sank to the ground by Cole's ashes, laying her head down next to them, erupting into tears, she was so tired, and so hollow.

"What have I done?" she whispered.

End of Chapter Eleven, stay tuned for Chapter Twelve: "Guilty or Not Guilty?"


	12. Guilty or Not Guilty?

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twelve: "Guilty or Not Guilty?"

"Would anyone like to say some words?" Leo asked.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Leo, Darryl and Victor stood in the backyard of Halliwell manor.

They looked to Phoebe, who just looked blank, devoid of anything.

"I will" Prue stepped forward.

"I may not have gotten on well with Cole, but he bought a lot of joy into Phoebe's life and when push came to shove he was a hero who helped us save a lot of people. He did his best to try to be good and for that I respected him. I hope he's at peace now".

Prue finished her words and handed Phoebe the jar that held Cole's ashes in, Phoebe was about to scatter them when she stopped.

"No" she said.

"No?" Piper asked.

"He wouldn't want to be laid to rest here, this place didn't have any meaning to him".

And with that she walked back into the manor by herself.

It had been three days since Cole had died. Two days since they convinced Phoebe to get off the attic floor. One day since they asked her if she'd wanted a ceremony to celebrate Cole's life.

Truth be told, before they'd met him they didn't know that much about him Prue thought, they had no right to judge his past, all they had to go on was what he'd been like since he'd met Phoebe.

"I'll go see if Phoebe needs anything" Victor said.

"Dad wait, do you really think that's a good idea?" Prue asked.

"I don't think Phoebe is in a talking mood right now".

"I won't talk if she doesn't want me to, I just want her to know that I'm here if she does" Victor replied.

He walked back into the manor, how familiar this place felt to him yet so different, he had spent years here, years spent loving, fighting, hating, he had mixed feelings on the manor, how he had found love here but also had it torn apart.

He found Phoebe in the attic.

"Sweetie?" he asked.

Phoebe looked up, mascara running down her cheek from the tears, cuddling the jar of Cole's ashes like her life depended on it.

"Daddy" she said, her head sinking as a fresh wave of crying took hold.

Victor ran over to his youngest daughter and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"I know I haven't been here enough" he said quietly.

"But that'll change soon, once my work wraps up, I retire next year".

Phoebe nodded, unsure of what else to do.

"There's something I haven't told anyone else, about what happened when I was in the underworld" she spluttered.

"What is it honey?" he asked, concerned.

"When I was evil, when I was under the influence, I think. I know. That I killed someone, a person" she said as she wept into her father's shoulder.

Victor didn't know what to say, he wasn't used to this kind of interaction with his daughters, now was the time to prove that he could be a source of comfort for them.

"That wasn't you, it was The Source" he said reassuringly.

"Then why do I still feel guilty?" Phoebe asked, she sounded so vulnerable, like one flick would shatter her into a million pieces.

"You're my daughter, and I know you, you wouldn't harm a fly, not by choice, and not under your own influence, it was that monster".

"I have to go" Phoebe said, pushing Victor back and running out of the attic with the ashes.

Victor looked down, the scorch marks were still there, he once had tried to make it so his children never had to experience this sort of life. Now more than ever he wished he'd tried harder.

Phoebe stood in the mausoleum, the one she had spent so much time with Cole in, the one that held his father's tomb, he'd want to be laid to rest here she thought, he hadn't spoken about him much, but she knew that he would have done anything to get his father's soul back so she knew he cared for him, honestly this was the only place she could really think of that he'd be happy. She'd been thinking a lot over the past few days, her relationship with Cole had been filled with so much passion and want, she loved him, and she knew he loved her, but deep down, she knew it probably wouldn't have lasted, she was a witch, and he was a demon.

Though over the past few years she had learned that things weren't always so black and white, their relationship being a prime example.

She laid her hand over the tomb, and was pulled into a vision, one of the most vivid premonitions she had ever experienced, it was in total colour, and she could hear what the people were saying, it was like watching through a television screen, so clear. She looked around the room, it looked like a nursery, she headed towards the voices, a man was sitting in a rocking chair, by the looks of him and the surroundings she was very far in the past, though she couldn't tell how far exactly.

"It's ok Coleridge, don't be afraid, it was just your mother getting angry with your father" the man cooed.

Phoebe shook her head in disbelief, she now recognised the man from a vision she'd had before, it was Benjamin Coleridge Turner, and that must mean that the baby he was rocking to sleep? She peered down from behind the man, yes, it was Cole, she recognised the eyes.

She could feel what the baby was feeling, strange Phoebe thought, how was she doing that? The baby felt nothing but love for this man, this kind, caring individual who happened to have been Cole's father, Cole had murdered a witch for his soul.

She was startled as she was thrown back out from the vision, her hand still on the tomb. Yes, Phoebe thought, Cole cared a great dear for his father, this is definitely where he'd want to be. Phoebe sighed, there was no way she could get the jar into the crypt with whatever remained of Benjamin, so she had to do the best she could.

With a shaky hand she took the lid off the jar and began to scatter the ashes around the circumference of the tomb, as close to it as she could possibly get. When she was finished she sunk to her knees, tears welling up. This was it she thought, Cole was gone, her heart and soul along with him. She had fulfilled one thing off her checklist, now it was time to go home and prepare for the next. She stood and walked out of the mausoleum, leaving the ashes, the jar and her love inside.

Piper sat in the conservatory in her pyjama's, it was 9pm and she was exhausted, but she also couldn't go to bed until she knew Phoebe was home safe, she stared down at her empty mug of herbal tea, she sighed, the past few weeks had been a complete misery, she didn't even know how they were all still operating, on fumes she smiled to herself as she stood to go and make herself another cup.

Things couldn't get any worse right? Wrong she thought as she entered the kitchen, The Seer was now The Source, Cole was dead, Phoebe is a wreck and I'm infertile.

She threw the tea bag into the mug and flipped the kettle on, waiting impatiently for it to boil, she had learned to appreciate small moments such as these, when it was quiet and peaceful in the house, guess it would be a while before she could add happy to that list.

Prue sat in the attic, flipping through the book of shadows, honestly this was the last thing she wanted to do but someone had too she thought as she halted her flipping, she had found the page she was looking for, the one on The Seer, it didn't have much information on it other than the things they already knew, but she kept checking at least three times a day just to make sure no generous ancestor had added anything useful. Guess none of them had encountered her. She shrugged as she waved the book shut and sank back in the armchair.

"Can't sleep?" Victor asked from the doorway.

"Nope, you?" she asked casually.

"Is it that obvious?" Victor sighed, coming to sit in the chair next to his oldest daughter.

Prue relaxed, she wasn't as opposed to her father being here anymore as she used to be, he was trying to make amends and the least she could was try to meet him halfway. Besides, if there was ever a time for less animosity, it was now.

"Is Leo still talking with the almighty, all-knowing ones?" Victor asked sarcastically.

Prue grinned and turned to look at her father, his eyes were just like Phoebe's, big, soft and brown, full of kindness.

"I guess you still don't like whitelighters then?" Prue sniggered.

Victor shrugged, "It's not that, I like Leo fine, he's a good man, but when you have history, especially the kind of history I've had with them, it gets difficult to see through that resentment sometimes" he answered carefully.

"Oh I understand that well enough" Prue winked at him.

Victor blushed as he clocked onto what she was talking about, most likely over three years ago when he had first come back into contact with his daughters, Prue hadn't been very welcoming, not that he'd deserved any better he thought.

"Any sign of Phoebe?" Victor wondered.

"That would be a big no" she confirmed.

"I gotta admit, I loathed the woman but I kind of wish your Grams was here" he admitted.

"She did a wonderful job raising you girls from what I can see, I can't help thinking she'd be of more use than I am right about now."

"You being here, just like this, talking with us, being there for us, for Phoebe, is all we ever wanted" Prue took her father's hand in hers and squeezed, for a second she thought she saw his eyes shining, but he blinked and it was gone.

They sat there like that for a few minutes before hearing the front door slam shut.

"Guess Phoebe's home, thank God, now I can go to bed" Prue said, yawning.

"Phoebe are you ok?" Piper asked as she walked out the dining room.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just needed to get some air, clear my head".

Piper nodded.

"Well, if you need anything?" she asked.

"Nah I'm ok Piper, just need some rest" Phoebe began to climb the stairs.

She went into her bedroom, changed into her nightgown and sat down at her desk, grabbing a pen and some paper and began to write.

"To Prue and Piper, I'm so sorry…." The letter began.

The next morning Prue was jolted awake with a cry from Victor.

"GIRLS!" he yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

Prue noted the panic in his voice and threw back her covers, jumping out of bed and nearly colliding with Piper in the hallway.

They charged down the stairs and ran into Victor, who was holding what looked like a letter.

"I found this in the kitchen" he said urgently.

Piper grabbed it and held it in front of her and Prue, them both scanning it quickly.

"What does she mean she needs to pay for what she's done?" Prue asked.

"Phoebe told me something in confidence yesterday, I didn't think she'd do something like this though" Victor said worriedly.

"Dad what was it?" Piper asked.

Victor explained to an ashen Prue and Piper what had occurred.

They both ran upstairs to get changed as quickly as possible.

"Leo!" Piper yelled as she pulled on her sandals.

"What is it?" he asked as he orbed in the bedroom looking scared.

"I need you to find Phoebe, now!" she barked.

Leo closed his eyes and concentrated.

His eyes flew open, "She's at the police station" he answered.

Phoebe looked demure in her cream coloured dress, she sat patiently in the police station clutching her bag nervously. She deserved this, she was guilty, she needed to pay for her crimes, she'd learnt that lesson before and wasn't about to forget it, she wouldn't be burnt at the stake this time even though she felt she deserved to be. Poetic justice she thought.

Darryl walked past her unaware, carried on for a few steps and stopped, turned around and noticed her properly.

"Phoebe what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"You should be at home, resting".

"Darryl no offense, it's always a pleasure to see you, but I'm here to see someone else, someone unbiased" she said, her voice shaking.

"I think you should come and sit with me at my desk" he said, pointing her towards it.

Phoebe sighed and stood, making her way over to the desk at the very back near the Captain's office.

"What is this about?" he wondered.

"Darryl, I'm guilty, I need to pay for what I've done" she said.

"And what exactly would that be?" he prodded.

Phoebe wiped away a tear as she looked Darryl in the eye.

"When I was evil, when The Source owned my mind, I killed someone" she whispered the last part, hardly able to get the words out between sobs.

Darryl paled.

"I think we should call your sisters" he said.

"No need" Prue's voice sounded from behind them as her and Piper charged into the police station.

"Thank God" Darryl said to himself.

"You're coming with us" Piper ordered.

Phoebe shook her head.

"Didn't you read the letter I left you?" she said tearfully.

"You mean that giant bogus load of crap, yeah I saw it, come on" Piper commanded again.

"Piper, no I can't, I need to be here, I killed that woman!" she almost yelled.

"Piper!" Prue hissed.

Piper threw up her hands and froze everyone inside the building.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Prue shouted.

"For the first time in months, I'm not" Phoebe bit back.

"Phoebe, I know you think you killed Marcy, but you didn't" Piper said confidently.

"Oh, were you there?" Phoebe asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Because I don't remember seeing either of you there" she continued.

"What you're feeling right now, it's your emotions, they wreak havoc on us, on our powers, you're too blind to see what actually happened" Prue said comfortingly.

"How would either of you even know?" Phoebe shouted.

"Because we asked Marcy" Prue said.

"What?" Phoebe said, startled.

"We summoned here, with a séance, to ask her what really happened" Piper confirmed.

"Take our hands" Prue said holding hers out along with Piper.

Phoebe grabbed them and was once again thrown into her new found vivid premonitions, she gasped as she surveyed the scene, there she was, backing away from Marcy in her old chambers down in the underworld, she backed into The Source, who hit her round the back of the head with the handle of an athame, rendering her unconscious. Phoebe reached out, if only she could stop what was about to happen, she turned her head as The Source brutalized Marcy, her screams will haunt me for the rest of my life she thought as she came back to real life.

Phoebe collapsed to her knees, unable to breathe, gasping for air.

"It wasn't me" she said, tears of joy staining her face.

"I didn't kill anyone!" she yelled in delight.

"No, sweetie, you didn't" Prue said, holding Phoebe's cheek in her hand.

"I'm innocent" she sobbed.

"Always" Piper said.

End of Chapter Twelve, stay tuned for Chapter Thirteen, "Phoebe Finds her Thing"


	13. Phoebe Finds her Thing

Charmed Reborn Chapter Thirteen: "Phoebe Finds her Thing"

The Seer sat on her throne. Bored. She had been The Source for almost a whole month now, all this build-up ending with crushing disappointment, she hadn't needed to flay a single demon yet, they'd all just fallen onto their knees at her command when she'd returned from the Halliwell Manor. She had her little spies out monitoring their every move, she wasn't sure if they'd try and take her out the same way they'd done her predecessor. The difference being that she knew what he hadn't, how they operated, how they'd vanquished him, she was prepared for anything and everything. She couldn't lose. Destiny was on her side. Soon she would purge the world of all that was good. Starting with her most formidable enemies. The Charmed Ones. She wondered what all-powerful scheme her most dangerous, almost invincible foes would come up with next.

"My toe hurts" Piper moaned in the kitchen.

She had just walked into greet her sisters when she'd stubbed her toe on the table leg.

"Aww poor baby" Phoebe grinned.

"That's enough talk of baby's thank you" Piper said as she stood to pour herself some coffee.

She had finally told her sisters last night of her results from the hospital, that it would be almost impossible for her and Leo to conceive naturally.

"You know Piper, I would be happy to help if you wanted to choose a surrogate" Phoebe said.

Piper frowned.

"Wouldn't that be kinda weird Phoebs?"

"No, not really, I'd be helping bring the next generation of Halliwell's into the world, how can that be a bad thing?" She wondered.

"It could get a little awkward, you carrying mine and Leo's baby" Piper said.

"I agree with Piper" Prue said.

"Things could get…..uncomfortable".

"Oh calm down I wasn't being serious!" Phoebe said, laughing.

Prue and Piper looked at each other, confusion clouding their faces.

"Did she just crack a joke?" Prue checked.

Piper nodded her head, her eyes wide with sarcastic puzzlement.

"Haha, very funny" Phoebe chimed.

"It's just good to see you in a better place is all" Prue said proudly.

"Yeah, I mean, I miss Cole, I will for a long time, but I think I'm finally moving past it" Phoebe concluded.

"Hey what's that on the news?" she asked, seeing the screen behind Piper.

"Oh, some sicko's been taking animals all over town, dogs, cats, even a tortoise" she answered.

"Those poor animals" Phoebe sighed, her balloon deflating at the thought of kidnapped pets.

Prue looked at her watch. Her eyes widening.

"Aww crap I'm gonna be late for work, I gotta go" she said standing and gathering her things.

"Me too" Piper said.

"Me three" Phoebe said coyly.

"Huh?" Piper asked.

"I'm gonna look for a job, I think it's time, I have a degree, maybe someone will take me on, right now I just want something to fill up my time, so I can think about something else for a change".

"Just as long as it isn't at 415, remember the last disaster of us working together?" Prue teased.

"Aaah yes, the mystery of the missing bracelet at Buckland's" Phoebe said, nostalgia filling her voice.

"I miss that place, your office was awesome".

"Well, I don't" Prue said walking out the kitchen.

"You want a lift into town?" Piper asked.

"Sure" Phoebe answered.

Phoebe strolled around the town most of the morning, looking for "help wanted" signs and the like, sadly she hadn't really found anything yet, she was just crossing the road to stop at a little café for lunch when she heard someone yell.

"Help! Please, someone?!" a young girl shouted.

"What is it sweetie?" Phoebe asked, running up to her, worried.

"My dog….she slipped the lead, and now I can't find her!"

Phoebe looked at the girl, frizzy red hair and tears down her face, she must really care for her dog she thought.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Lizzy" the girl replied.

"Ok Lizzy I'm gonna help you find your dog ok?" Phoebe said, smiling.

The girl perked up, "You will?"

"Of course, what does your dog look like?" she asked.

"Well she's called Christy and she's a black Labrador" Lizzy replied.

"Ok then, let's go look for Christy".

They walked around the surrounding streets, not really finding anything much of use at all, until finally Phoebe turned to the girl.

"Ok Lizzy, can I borrow your dog's lead?"

"Uh sure ok" she said handing it to Phoebe.

Phoebe turned away from Lizzy and concentrated before she was thrust into one of her new vivid premonitions, in it she saw a white van and two men locking the dog into a tight cage, dog-nappers!

Phoebe came out of the vision and handed the lead back.

"Ok honey, we're gonna head to the police station, I have a friend there who might be able to help".

An hour later Phoebe and Lizzy were sitting at Darryl's desk.

"You know I'm not really supposed to do this kind of thing Phoebe" he said quietly.

"Oh come on Darryl this dog could be in danger" she spat back.

"Fine" he sighed as he tapped away at his computer.

Phoebe smiled, she'd seen the registration plate in her vision and was hoping Darryl could find who it belonged too.

"Here we go, registered to a Mickey Jackson".

"Huh?" Darryl wondered, peering at the screen.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked.

"Seems like you guys have encountered this thug before" he said.

"What? When?" Phoebe spluttered trying to rack her brains for the name.

"Well not you specifically, says here over three years ago now he kidnapped a young boy called Max Franklin as well as Prue".

"Oh" realization dawned on Phoebe as she remembered the case.

"Didn't that guy go to jail" she queried.

"Says here he got out early for good behaviour".

"What do we do now?" Lizzy asked, close to tears again.

"Do you have an address?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"Phoebe I can't let you go and see this guy on your own" Darryl said worryingly.

"Then come with us" she said as she took Lizzy's hand and marched out the station, Darryl hurrying to keep up.

"What's the point of having all this power if I can't even use it?!" The Seer yelled.

"Well, you could, uh, kill The Charmed Ones?" Titus piped up.

"Oh, thank you Titus, yes, I'll just go and kill The Charmed Ones, because it's just that easy!" she shouted.

Titus recoiled.

The Seer smiled, she liked that, the power, the strength, the authority it gave her.

"Hmph, well no matter, soon my plan will reach its fruition" she smiled at the thought.

"I thought you already achieved your goals, becoming The Source?" Titus questioned.

"That was only Part One you fool, this will be so much bigger".

"Is this the same auto-shop they used before?" Phoebe wondered as they pulled up outside.

"I think so, as far as I remember Andy took lead on that case" Darryl said, his face growing sombre at the thought of his old partner.

Phoebe rubbed his arm.

"I miss him too".

"Growing up he was like my big brother" she continued.

Darryl nodded.

They both got out, leaving Lizzy in the back.

"Ok, so you wait here and I'll go in".

"You want us to wait outside?" Phoebe said incredulously.

"Uh-huh" Darryl said walking into the auto-shop.

Phoebe sunk back onto the car, folding her arms.

Lizzy rolled the window down to talk.

"You think he'll find anything?"

"I hope so sweetie, I hope so".

Twenty minutes later and Darryl still hadn't come out, she was growing worried.

"Lizzy, lock the door ok? I'm going inside to see if anything is wrong" Phoebe said.

"Wait another fifteen minutes and if we don't come out you need to call for back-up ok?" she said pointing at the police radio.

Lizzy nodded determinedly.

Phoebe made her way through the entrance.

"Nancy Drew mode activate" she whispered to herself.

She could hear something in the back room, rustling and was that a yelp?

She got closer, she could hear shouting.

"This is the last time I let you drag me into anything Mickey, I'm sick of it, first that stunt with the bank and now all these animals? It's stupid".

"You know what is stupid? Backing out from a deal you made with me, you made me kill the cop and now…."

Phoebe stepped back, shocked at what he'd just said, she stumbled into a pile of tyres she hadn't noticed, and they'd tumbled down and caused a loud crash.

"Crap" she whispered to herself.

"What was that?" One of the men said.

"I dunno, go check it out already" the other man yelled.

"Jackass" the first man said opening the door and looking around at the pile of tyres.

He peered around the room, nothing.

"The tyres just fell, no-one else here" he said.

He went back inside, closing the door.

Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief from the ceiling, luckily he hadn't looked up.

She slowly floated down to the ground from her hiding spot.

She had to act quick, it sounded like Darryl was hurt.

She knocked on the door and hid to the left so they wouldn't see her straight away.

The door slid open.

A man poked his head out.

"Hi-yah!" Phoebe yelled as she raised her leg and kicked the man square in the jaw, he went crashing to the ground.

She ran into the room and noted several animal cages piled on top of each other, scared looking creatures in all of them.

"He's right, you are a jackass" she said running up to the man she recognized from the computer screen as Mickey, he pulled out a knife but it didn't bother Phoebe, she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him, smashing the arm on to her knee to make him drop the weapon. She then twisted around and kicked him in the chest, knocking him into some empty cages.

"Hmm what a great idea, thanks Mickey!" she clapped loudly in glee.

She shoved him in and locked the cage door, she then went over to the other man and dragged him into one, doing the same thing.

"Nice to see a man in a cage for once" she said.

She looked around the room, scanning the floor, she found Darryl round the back of the final cage, blood leaking from a stab wound in his abdomen.

"Dammit" she said looking from the wound to his pale face.

"Leo!" she yelled.

Leo appeared in a flurry of white light, she didn't need to tell him, he could see exactly what had to be done, he bent over Darryl and set to work, healing the wound.

"Thank God" Phoebe let out a sigh of relief as Darryl stood, fully healed.

"You should have called for help" he said.

"I did!" Phoebe exclaimed pointing to Leo.

"I gotta go, a charge is calling" Leo said quickly before orbing out.

"Anyways, nice work catching these guys, you just made a lot of pet owners happy".

Phoebe smiled as he walked out the room to make his way back to the car for back-up, this wasn't really her usual way to help people but even so, she felt good, it was nice to help innocents again, whether they were human or animal.

"You found her! Thank you so much!" Lizzy cried as Christy the dog bounded up to her and gave her a huge wet kiss on the face, she fell to the floor laughing as her dog climbed all over her, ecstatic to be back with her friend.

"You know you were really good with her today" Darryl said over Phoebe's shoulder.

"The dog?" Phoebe asked, confused.

Darryl sniggered, "No, the girl, I've always thought you had a knack for getting through to people, the young especially".

Phoebe tilted her head, thinking about what Darryl had said.

"That's actually not a bad idea, thanks Darryl" she said.

"Thanks for what?" he asked.

"For helping me find my thing".

"Your thing?" he said, puzzled.

"Yeah, my thing" she said.

Phoebe said goodbye to Lizzy and Christy and made her way out the auto-shop, time to go home she thought, it had gotten late.

"Finally! Dinner has been ready for an age!" Piper yelled at her younger sibling as she strolled into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I walked all the way back here from downtown and didn't realise what the time was" she said apologetically.

"Well, it doesn't matter, at least someone turned up" Piper said, serving Phoebe up some dinner.

"Prue not home yet?" Phoebe wondered.

"She had to work late I guess" Piper said sulkily.

A half hour later and the girls were done with dinner, they made their way into the living room and switched some mindless reality TV on when Prue came through the door yawning.

"You're late for dinner!" Piper hissed.

"Oh I am so sorry about that Missy!" Prue hissed back sarcastically.

She flopped down onto the couch next to Phoebe and sunk back into the cushions, relaxing after her hard day.

All in all it had been quite a normal day for the Halliwell sisters what with work, helping people and discovering new dreams, of course, when you live in Halliwell Manor, things don't stay normal for long.

The girls jumped up in shock as a loud crashing sound erupted around them, wind pushing them back towards the TV, a huge white light had exploded in front of the stairs and was expanding outwards, filling the room with a foreboding sense of peril. The girls held hands in unity as the white light began to recede and a figure began to materialize where the light was. The sisters jumped back as a man jumped out of the white light and landed with a loud thud in front of them.

"Thank God it worked" he said, smiling in joy.

Prue looked him up and down, he had light brown hair, light green eyes, a beauty spot on his nose, if she were being honest, he kind of looked like her, but male.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"My name is Chris, I'm from the future, and I need you three to come with me to help save it".

He looked at Prue directly in the face.

"Mom".

End of Chapter Thirteen, stay tuned for Chapter Fourteen, "What if The Seer Won?"


	14. What if The Seer Won?

Charmed Reborn Chapter Fourteen, "What if The Seer Won?"

"It'll never work" Bianca said.

"It has too, we can't keep living like this Bianca" Chris replied, exhausted.

He made his way up the stairs of P3, his Aunt Piper's old club, now in ruins, it was his hiding spot, his own little area of safety, no one came in, no one disturbed him, or Bianca, this was their spot.

"Please don't go, I can't lose you" she shouted, fighting back tears.

"If this all goes to plan, you'll never lose me" he answered.

He wiped a tear away from his eye and walked out the exit, he had to go to Halliwell Manor, he had to travel to the past, and he had to be quick, the spell wouldn't last long, the portal would stay open maybe for a couple of minutes? He had no idea, it had never been done. He had acquired this spell from a good friend whom he trusted, but there was no telling if it would even work.

He walked down the grungy street, litter everywhere, it was quiet, it was always quiet, the people that were left were too afraid to leave their homes or their shelters.

He heard a noise, he sunk back into the shadows of an alleyway, he dared a look around, it was just a stray cat, he breathed a sigh of relief and kept walking. If only he'd had Uncle Leo's power of orbing, he could have been there in a flash.

An hour later he could see it in the distance, Halliwell Manor, not how it used to look, at least from what he'd seen in the old photos, it had been painted a dark black since then, to resemble the ownership it was now under, the ownership of pure evil.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, he couldn't sense anyone inside, but that didn't mean no one was in there, it just meant that were hidden. He was throwing his all into this, he was the last one left, the last Halliwell, the last descendant of Melinda Warren alive. Ten years ago he'd had a mother, a father, three aunts and an uncle, but now? No one, except Bianca of course, she was a witch too, though not usually the good type, she had turned against her masters for him, for their love. He remembered Aunt Phoebe's reaction when he'd told them who he'd fallen in love with, was it really so long ago? She was happy anyway, said she understood, and I believed her.

Chris circled around the back and came face to face with the backyard fence, still standing, he did what his mother taught him, jumped into the air and used his telekinesis to propel himself over the fence, landing in the garden.

He stopped breathing, listening for any sign that he'd been heard. Nothing. Yet.

The back door was wide open, the gall of these fiends he thought as he walked inside, still remembering the way after this amount of time. He entered the kitchen, it was dark, but he could see well enough, he went to one of the kitchen drawers, found a bread knife, it'll do he thought as he slid it into his belt and carried on into the dining room. He looked around, this part he didn't remember, the manor apparently hadn't just been defaced on the outside, but the inside too, it made him sick.

He tore his eyes away and climbed the stairs, he had to check for any intruders before he began the spell, the last thing he needed was someone disturbing him. If his sources were correct, no one, good or evil had set foot in the manor for over a year, so it clearly wasn't being monitored. At least he hoped it wasn't.

He walked through the landing, checking each bedroom, he sucked in a gasp when he entered his mother's room, a half broken crib lay on its side, it was his, he was sure of it, it had his name on it, "Christopher Bennett Marks-Halliwell", a mouthful if ever there was one, he smiled as he remembered his mother yelling at him when he did something wrong, each time using his full name like a weapon, oh how he missed the small things.

He turned away, he didn't have time to reminisce, besides, if his plan worked, he wouldn't even remember any of this, time would change, things would be better, his family would still be alive.

He walked up the stairs to the attic, this has been wrecked as well, all the old family junk gone and replaced with tables upon tables of what looked like potions and weapons, nice he thought as he laid down the bread knife and replaced it with a machete.

He walked back downstairs, if he was correct, then the portal he was going to open up should take him to the exact same spot, but in the past, he was going back to the year 2002, two years before he had even been born, who knows? Maybe after doing this, he'd never even be born, still, he had to try, the world deserved a second chance.

He took out the piece of paper and stared at it, he had a moment's hesitation, he smelled it, it was coated in herbs, witches in this time had found a way to coat the herbs needed for a spell onto the paper, all you needed to do was set it alight as you chanted.

That hesitation cost him.

"Going somewhere?" a deep voice said behind him.

Chris hadn't sensed him, he'd managed to conceal himself, probably some dark magic The Seer had given him.

"I will be" he replied.

"Not if I have anything to do with it" the man snapped back.

Chris threw himself to the floor as he felt the heat build-up behind him, just in time he hit the floor as a wave of fire crackled above him.

He raised his hand and threw the being up to the ceiling and slamming back down on the floor, he grunted in pain. Chris stood, but this guy was fast, he'd had strict training to ignore pain, the two began sparring, Chris grabbing his hands and pushing them down to the sides, then shoving his fist up into the man's nose, sending him reeling.

Chris once again raised his arm and threw the man outside the Manor front doors, shutting and locking them up behind.

"You don't win this time Tyler, never again" he said as he began to chant.

" _Time and space surround us all,_

 _But with this spell I break that wall,_

 _I call upon the ancient power,_

 _To take me back to the hour"._

He finished chanting and lit the paper on fire from the flames Tyler had left in his wake, Chris threw the paper to the ground and watched in excitement and nerves as it began to glow a blinding white. He heard banging on the door behind him.

"Let me in!" Tyler was yelling.

Come on Chris thought, any second he'll just burn the door down. His wishes were answered, a wind began to roar around him, objects and furniture being moved around as the hurricane of magic enveloped Chris, one second all he could see was white, the next, he came to face to face with The Charmed Ones.

"Wait, what?!" Piper exclaimed in disbelief.

"You're who?" she demanded.

"I'm Prue's son, I can explain it all, but I don't have time now, that portal will close soon and then we're all doomed, please!" he begged.

"I believe him" Phoebe said suddenly.

Prue and Piper turned to look at her.

"Why?" Prue asked.

"I can't explain it, but I can feel what he's feeling, his joy at seeing us, his excitement, and also his fear, I can feel that he's telling the truth" she explained.

"How long have you been able to do this?" Piper wondered.

"I'm not sure exactly, a few weeks?"

"Piper, I think our younger sis is becoming an empath" Prue said, smiling.

"Ok that's great, but please, can we go now?" Chris yelled.

"Don't yell at your mother like that!" Phoebe shouted before jumping into the portal.

Chris actually looked guilty at what Phoebe had said.

Prue and Piper turned to look at each other and nodded.

They held hands and jumped in after Phoebe. Chris following suit.

Phoebe looked around the dilapidated manor, what year was this?

What on Earth had happened?  
"Horrible isn't it?" Chris said, appearing through the portal with Prue and Piper.

"They've ruined this place, befouled it with their evil".

"I can't believe it" Piper said, her hands shaking.

"Ok, start talking" Prue demanded.

"I will tell you everything you want to know, but first we have to deal with that" Chris said, pointing towards the front door that was now melting off the hinges.

"What the heck is that?" Piper said, panicking.

"Honey I'm home" Tyler said as he marched through the front door.

His eyes widened at the sight before him.

"It can't be" he exclaimed.

"Freeze him!" Chris yelled.

Piper did as commanded and threw up her hands, freezing Tyler in place.

"I feel like I've seen him before" Prue said, racking her brains.

"As a child, yes, you helped him".

"His name is Tyler Michaels" Chris dropped the bombshell.

"Wait, the little kid from the social services?" Prue asked in disbelief.

"What happened here? Talk. Now!" Prue snarled.

Chris looked down and back up again.

"It's the year 2030, my name is Chris, I'm your son, and I am the last living descendant of Melinda Warren" he explained.

"But this is the future right?" Phoebe checked.

"So where are we? What happened to us?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"You're all dead" Chris said sadly.

"But we've been to the future before, I had a daughter, Prue was blonde and Phoebe was in jail" Piper said, trying to grasp the situation.

"Well when you went to that future and saw what would happen you went back to the past with future knowledge and changed the outcome and that future never happened" Chris summarized.

"I'm getting a headache" Phoebe said, sitting down on the arm of the burnt sofa.

"But you did have a daughter" Chris said, looking to Piper.

"But she didn't make it" he said, staring at the floor.

"Oh my God" Piper said, clutching her chest.

"But that's why I bought you here, to do the same thing you did before when you went to the future, see what happens and then go back to the present knowing that things need to change, it's our only hope" he said sombrely.

"You're not saying much Prue" Phoebe pointed out.

"I think she's in shock" she continued.

"I'm just trying to process all this, should you really be telling us, showing us all this?" she asked.

"Well that's kinda the point, to show you so you can change it" he said.

"But aren't there rules, or what about the elders?" she queried.

Chris laughed, "Yeah right, like the whities would help us" he sneered.

"There's no need to be racist" Piper said.

"No, whitie doesn't refer to skin colour, it refers to whitelighters, the elders recalled them all from Earth about ten years ago, sealing themselves off from us so they could protect themselves" he explained.

"They abandoned us" he said simply.

"What a shocker, the elders do something crappy" Piper snapped.

"How did we die?" Phoebe asked quietly.

"Phoebe, I'd rather not know that" Prue said harshly.

"The way I see it Prue, none of this even matters because we're going to change it, who cares if we know what happens in this future? When we go back to the past, hopefully none of this will have happened and we won't know what's coming" she said, raising her voice.

"We don't know that for sure now do we, stop being so care free "Freebe" and look around, we failed! The future is in ruins, and it's our fault" Prue shouted, holding back tears.

"Ok, I think we need to all take a deep breath, we don't really have time for this now do we?" Piper asked gently, trying to calm the situation down.

"You're right Piper, I'm sorry Phoebe, I guess this is all a lot to take in" Prue said.

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, letting it slide.

She then turned to Chris, looking at him properly.

"You really look like your mother" Phoebe said, noting their similar features.

"If this future does change, you might not even be born" Piper said carefully.

"Maybe, but that's a chance I'm willing to take, once you see how it is out there, you'll see how important this is".

"Wait, out there? Can't you just send us back now you've told us all what happens?" Phoebe asked.

Chris shook his head.

"The spell I used requires a lot of power, it'll need 24 hours to recharge until we can use it again".

"Of course, because having us go straight back would be way too easy" Piper whispered to herself, annoyed.

"We need to see this I think" Prue said suddenly.

"Let's go".

"Uh, what about Tyler?" Phoebe asked.

"How'd he get so evil?"

"The Seer brainwashed him, turned him evil, he's no better than a demon now" Chris explained.

"While he's frozen we can vanquish him" Chris said, pulling out his machete.

He raised it above his head before it flew out his hands and landed across the room.

He turned around, Prue was staring at him, furious.

"Maybe he is evil, but the last I saw him he was an innocent little boy who wanted to be normal, so no, you won't vanquish him" she snarled.

"He's killed innocents, he's killed witches, good people".

"He's the reason your daughter is dead" he said, turning to Piper.

Piper looked down, trying not to cry.

"Let's just get outta here" she said quickly, rushing for the half melted door.

Prue looked around what used to be Prescott Street, the houses in ruins, the streets rubble, she could barely believe it, in 28 short years this is what life would be like, and she had a son!

She looked at the man walking in front of her, what did she think of him? He was a hard-ass, she knew that already, but what choice did he have? He was alone, no family, fighting a war against evil by himself, he'd probably had to make hard choices.

"Why Chris?" she blurted out of nowhere.

"Huh?" he said turning to face her.

"Your name, why did I call you Chris?"

He smiled.

"It's short for Christopher, it was Leo's Father's name".

"You once told me you had all these names planned out, only to give birth and see that you'd had a boy, so you asked for male names that meant something to your family and Leo suggested Christopher, you liked it so that's what you named me" he explained.

"Who's your dad?" Phoebe wondered.

Prue looked back up, that is something she'd very much like to know as well.

"Ah, well, I can't tell you that"

"Seriously?" Prue asked.

"Well, if I still want to be born in this new future we're making, then I don't want to influence my parentage".

"That makes sense I guess" Phoebe said.

"Yeah it does, that doesn't make it any less maddening though" Prue said through gritted teeth.

"Whoa" Phoebe said, looking up at the remains of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Is the whole world like this?" Piper wondered.

"Pretty much" he replied.

"What happened though?" Prue asked.

"It started before I was born, The Seer raised an army of demons and all kinds of hell beasts from the underworld and decimated our planet".

"Her goal was to eradicate all that was good".

"And she pretty much succeeded" he concluded.

"But why didn't we stop her?" Prue demanded, not able to accept it.

"You couldn't, you had the power but not the right tools" he said.

"What does that even mean?" Piper asked.

"I'll show you once we get to P3".

An hour later and Chris and the sisters had made it there, they were all silent as they'd walked the streets, it may have been dark but they still saw everything, the destruction, the dead, it had made them all sick, to think that one being was capable of so much evil.

"Guess the club is still thriving" Piper said as she marched through the door.

"Guess not" she concluded as she surveyed the ruins of her livelihood.

"Piper duck!" Phoebe yelled from behind as an energy ball came sailing through the air towards her.

Piper yelped and threw up her hands, freezing it.

"Who are you?!" A woman demanded from behind the bar.

"Dammit Bianca, it's just us" Chris said, pushing past the sisters.

"Chris?" she asked in disbelief.

Bianca jumped over the bar and ran into Chris's arms, their lips meeting in greeting.

"Ew, now I feel weird" Prue said.

The couple separated.

"You actually did it, you found them" Bianca said looking them up and down.

"The Charmed Ones" she stated.

"We've met before, well, in the past, my past, your future selves, boy this is complicated" she said.

"Yep" Piper quipped.

"Have you told them?" she asked, looking to Chris.

"Not yet" he shook his head.

"Told us what?" Prue wondered.

"Follow me" he said walking towards the store room.

Tyler Michaels unfroze, peering around at the room, had he really just seen what he'd think he'd seen? Surely it wasn't possible, The Charmed Ones, alive again, they looked so young.

He thought back to the spell he had heard Chris cast from outside, a time travel spell, these women were from the past.

He had to report this, he sneered at the scene before him as a wave of flame surrounded him, teleporting him to the underworld.

End of Chapter Fourteen, stay tuned for Chapter Fifteen, "Chris' Reveal"


	15. Chris' Reveal

Charmed Reborn Chapter Fifteen: "Chis' Reveal"

"You're sure it was them?" The Seer asked.

"I saw them with my own eyes My Liege" Tyler replied.

"The witch, he cast a spell, bought them here from the past".

"How interesting" The Seer mused.

"You hear that, dog?" she yelled over her shoulder to her magical cage, one that was keeping a being inside of it.

"Your sisters are here from the past, not that it'll do much good".

"Go to hell" said a voice quietly in answer.

The Seer laughed.

"Look around, we're already there, and isn't it glorious!" she exclaimed.

"Let's pay them all a visit shall we?"

And with that, The Seer waved her arm, teleporting her whole entourage from the underworld up into San Francisco.

"What is it you have to show us?" Prue asked.

The small group walked into the P3 store room, looking around at the ruined walls and furniture.

"Ooh, more ruins, how fun" Piper said.

"That's not why we're here, look" he said pointing at what looked like a small heat wave in mid-air, he reached his arm into it and pulled something back out.

"It's another portal?" Phoebe wondered.

"Sort of, more like a little pocket dimension to store things in" Bianca explained.

"Cool".

Chris pulled back his arm and produced an ancient looking scroll.

"It looks so old" Prue said.

"About five thousand years old to be more exact" Chris said, holding it carefully.

"Here".

He found an old table and rolled the scroll out onto the surface.

On it was a picture of three separate items, two white wings and a golden sphere that the wings attached too.

"It looks like a golden snitch" Phoebe yelped happily.

"It's so much better than that" Chris said in wonder.

"What's that writing there?" Piper pondered pointing to the bottom of the scroll.

"We're not sure what it says, no one we know can read it, we don't even know what language it's in" Bianca said shrugging her shoulders.

"What we do know, is that it can be used to seal away all demons into the underworld, for good" Chris explained.

The sisters went silent as they took in the magnitude of what he'd just said.

"All of them?" Piper checked.

"Not just demons. Warlocks, creatures, all evil beings that originate from the underworld will be trapped there for eternity" Bianca said quietly.

"If you can't read it, then how do you know this?" Prue asked.

"Several soothsayers, prophets and Seers have recognised this item when we've shown them this scroll, it's an ancient myth, but we're sure the existence of this scroll means it must be real" Chris said excitedly.

"You didn't have this in the past, now you do" Bianca said.

"Which means you can change the future" Chris continued.

He rolled the parchment back up and handed it to Piper, who took it gingerly.

"How long until we can go back to the present?" Phoebe wondered.

Chris looked at his watch.

"About twenty hours still" he said apologetically.

"We need to go" Bianca pressured.

"Why?" Piper wondered.

"Because you let that low-life Tyler live, by now he'll have unfrozen and told them you're here" she finished.

"She's right, let's go" Chris said.

"Go where exactly?" Phoebe asked.

"We're no safer here than we are anywhere else are we?"  
At that moment the entire club shook, like an earthquake was causing the whole city to shake.

"We're too late" Bianca said.

"Let's go!" Chris yelled grabbing Prue's hand, together the five of them ran out the store room and into the main bar area and came face to face with evil incarnate.

"This is a nice surprise" The Seer said, stepping off her throne.

It looked like she'd bought the whole throne room with her complete with furniture and demonic minions.

Phoebe looked past The Seer, she recognised the magical cage The Source had kept her in, it sent chills down her spine.

There was a woman inside of it, she was very pale with very long dark hair, she looked up at Phoebe, and smiled.

Phoebe tore her eyes away from the woman though she still felt drawn to her, like she'd seen her somewhere before.

"Aunt Paige" Chris said, pain filling his voice.

"I didn't even know you were still alive" his voice cracked at the horrors she must have suffered down there.

"Aunt Paige?" Piper wondered.

"We don't have time for this, get the hell out of our way" Prue snarled.

"Now, now, ladies, no need to be rude" The Seer said.

"It's been so long since I last saw you, it must have been hmm….ten years ago? Yes I remember it well, see I killed all three of you, it was a lot of fun".

"I couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity to do it again" she concluded, sitting back on her throne.

"But first, there is a score to settle" she said pointing to Tyler who stepped forward.

"He's mine" he said staring at Chris.

"Let's finish this" Chris said, stepping forward to meet his rival.

"Let me" said a voice from behind him.

Bianca stepped forward.

"He murdered Melinda, she was my best friend, I'll kill him for that" she said, determination on her face.

Chris looked hesitant.

"You sure?" he asked.

She nodded and took his place in front of Tyler, as Chris stepped back she whispered words to him.

"While I distract them all, go".

Panic clouded Chris' face, he couldn't let her go through this alone, but he knew it was for the greater good.

"Well, well, the skirt wants a try" Tyler said with glee.

"Enough chat" Bianca snarled as she launched an energy ball at him, he ducked but she was fast, she dove in between his legs and behind him, swinging her leg around and catching his foot, sending him crumpling to the floor, she climbed on top and punched him repeatedly in the face, he just laughed.

"You punch like a girl" he said, blood bubbling from his mouth.

As he opened his mouth fire shot out of it, shooting Bianca right in the face.

She screamed at the same time as Chris.

And then fell to the floor, blacken and dead.

Chris sunk to his knees, unable to speak, she was gone.

"Get up" Phoebe said trying to lift him by the shoulders.

She sunk down next to him and grabbed his face between her hands.

"This isn't the end, when we get back to the past we can stop all of this, got it?!" she yelled.

Chris came to his senses and stood.

He waved his arm with such force the lights blinked out, he launched a massive wave of telekinetic energy towards Tyler and The Seer, sending them flying across the room.

The woman in the cage laughed madly at the scene before her, apparently enjoying The Seer falling on her ass.

"I'll save you, I promise" Chris said to this "Aunt Paige" and ran out the club with the sisters.

"Everyone hold hands, now!" Prue screamed at them as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the manor.

The four of them projected off the street just as Tyler ran up the stairs behind them, looking around wildly for the escapees, he concluded they were gone and ran back down into P3.

Chris vomited into the corner of the Manor basement, he could barely breathe, this couldn't be happening could it? After all the years they'd been together, for it to end like this.

"This isn't the end" Prue said from behind him.

He hadn't even realized he'd said that out loud.

"Now we have the scroll we can go back to our time and use it" she said confidently.

"We can't even read it" Piper said sarcastically.

"We'll find someone who can, maybe the elders?" Phoebe suggested.

"Like you can trust the whities" Chris said bitterly.

"Well a "whitie" helped name you didn't he? So show some respect!" Piper yelled.

"Piper…" Prue began.

"Where is Leo anyway?" Piper asked, cutting Prue off.

"He's dead, like the rest of you, The Seer had him killed by a darklighter" Chris explained.

Phoebe piped up, "Do I have any children?"

"No" Chris replied.

"Oh" she said, disappointed.

"But that doesn't mean you won't have any now right?" he added quickly.

"Yeah Phoebs, now you know the future you can play your time out differently" Piper said.

Phoebe nodded half-heartedly.

"We need to leave" Chris said suddenly.

"What? Why?" Piper asked.

"Because now that I've calmed down I've realized where we are, you don't think this is the first place they will look for us?" he said, panic in his voice.

"I was kinda hoping they'd think it was too obvious" Prue said, hopeful.

"Hey look, some of our junk!" Phoebe squealed excitedly.

She reached into a box and pulled out an old photo album.

"I can't believe these are still here" she said wistfully.

"I remember taking this one" she said pointing to a photo that was taken years ago, when the sisters went back to the 1970's to escape a warlock and break a pact he'd made with their mother, it was of little Prue and Piper as well as Patty, their mom.

Phoebe felt the familiar sensation of the pull of a premonition and succumbed to it, she still found it hard to get used to the new vivid, colour version, but she preferred them overall, much more detail.

She was thrust back to that day, when they were in the 70's, she saw Grams, Patty, little Prue and Piper gathered in the attic, using the power of three to send them back to their present.

Phoebe gasped as the vision ended, she opened her eyes to see Chris and her sisters staring at her, wondering what she'd seen.

"I think I know a way to get home faster" she said quietly.

"I remember but I don't remember the spell they used, do you?" Piper asked Prue.

She shook her head.

"I am such a moron, I can't believe I didn't think of you getting yourselves home, of course the power of three will get you home sooner" Chris said angrily.

"It's ok, Phoebe got that vision for a reason, to help us escape, we can do it now" Prue said comfortingly.

"Could it be in the book?" Piper wondered.

"I think I did see it in there at some point, Grams must have added it after we got back to the present" Phoebe said.

Prue turned to Chris and raised her eyebrows.

"The book?" she asked.

Chris sighed.

"Don't tell me it's gone" Phoebe said worriedly.

"No, it's just well hidden, by you, well, all of you" he said.

"What does that mean?" Piper pushed.

"Before you died you sealed the book away into another pocket dimension, you knew that without the power of three to protect it, evil would eventually harness its powers for themselves" he explained.

"So where did we hide it?" Prue asked.

Chris shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea" he said.

"I have an idea" Phoebe said.

"Should we really be up here?" Piper asked.

"The roof is half gone, what if someone sees us?"

"You worry too much Piper" Phoebe said.

"For good reason" she muttered in reply.

Piper and Phoebe were in the attic, searching.

"What makes you think it's up here again?" Piper wondered.

"Well, in my vision we were in the attic".

"Yeah, because that's where Mom and little us cast the spell to send us home".

"I know, but I have this feeling that maybe it was a 2 in 1 kinda deal, not only showing me the spell we needed but where the book is hidden" Phoebe said, shrugging.

"I guess we don't have any better ideas" Piper muttered again.

"Look here" Phoebe said, pointing the wall.

"What?" Piper asked.

"It's the wall that led to that portal, you remember Abraxas? When he stole the book? Look, the markings of the triquetra are there, but we cleaned that off years ago".

"You think we hid it in Abraxas' dimension?" Piper said, not convinced.

"Well we vanquished him, so it's not like he's using it" Phoebe pointed out.

"How do we get in though?" Piper queried.

"The first spell in the book, the one that awakened our powers" Phoebe said confidently.

"Take my hand, we can do this".

Together the two of them began to chant.

" _Hear now the words of the witches._

 _The secrets we hid in the night._

 _The oldest of Gods are invoked here._

 _The great work of magic is sought._

 _In this night and in this hour._

 _We call upon the Ancient Power._

 _Bring your powers to we sisters three!_

 _We want the power._

 _Give us the power._ "

The door to the other dimension opened and blue light shone out into the attic remains.

"There!" Phoebe yelled, the book was there floating in the air.

"You wait here" she said as she jumped in.

Piper looked around, aware that the bright blue light could give their position away.

Phoebe jumped back through, the book of shadows in her arms.

"Success" she said happily.

"Let's get back to Prue" Piper said anxiously.

"I hate being out in the open like this".

"Was I a good mother?" Prue asked nervously.

"Yeah, you were, we moved around a lot because of The Seer, but it was still the best time of my life, you teaching me how to use my powers, how to be a witch, I wouldn't change it".

"But what about, you know…other stuff, like not just teaching you about being a witch?"

"You taught me how to swim, to ride a bike, and the sex talk, God that was uncomfortable" Chris said, smiling at the memory.

"You were the best mom I could have asked for, and I really mean that".

"But those memories you have, they might change, they might not ever happen at all once we get back to the present".

Chris nodded.

"I know, I've had a lot of time to think about that, but I have to believe that they will get replaced with even better memories".

"I'm just one guy, I can't be selfish, I should put others before myself, just another thing you taught me mom" he said.

Prue blushed, she was glad to hear that she hadn't done a bad job raising him, maybe she was cut out to be a mother after all? She didn't think it was even possible for her to settle down and have kids with someone else after Andy died, but maybe there was hope.

"We got it!" Phoebe exclaimed happily as her and Piper made it back into the basement safely.

"How did you find it?" Prue asked.

"Explanation later, spell now" Piper said hurriedly.

Phoebe thumbed her way through the book, looking for the right page.

"There are so many pages in this I don't recognise" she said flipping page after page.

"Like this one" she said pointing a particular entry.

"Who's The Crone?" she asked no one in particular.

"Phoebs come on" Piper pushed.

"Ok, ok" she said, speeding up.

"Wa-la!" Phoebe cried, finally having found the right spell.

The manor trembled.

"They've found us" Chis said.

"You need to go, now!" he added, running up the basement stairs.

Prue looked helplessly at her sisters.

"I can't just leave him" she said defiantly.

She hung her head and concentrated.

"Prue stop!" Piper yelled.

But it was too late, she astral projected in front of Chris just as he reached the entrance to the dining room.

"What the hell are you doing? Go!" he yelled.

"No" she said.

She held out her hand, Chris took it, trembling.

They entered the living room, there she was in all her devilish glory, The Seer.

"Nice to see you're still here" she said, smiling wickedly.

Chris yelled, "Now!"

Both he and Prue raised both their arms, sending a shattering force of telekinesis towards The Seer, their combined power something mighty to behold.

The Seer went flying across the room and through the half melted Manor door, crashing into it and taking the last pieces of it with her.

"You think that will stop me?!" she thundered, getting to her feet.

She vanished in a wave of flame.

"Where'd she go?" Prue asked.

"I don't kn…" Chris started to say but never finished.

He gasped.

Prue turned to face him. Her blood ran cold.

The Seer had re-appeared behind him, and right now Prue could see her hand, it had punched right through Chris' chest, his blood coating her forearm.

"No!" Prue screamed in terror.

The Seer removed her arm and backed away, Chris falling to the floor, bleeding.

Prue sunk down and cuddled his head in her lap. Tears falling onto his hair.

"You know what you have to do" he whispered.

Prue nodded and sobbed as her son passed away into the afterlife.

"Emotions?" The Seer asked, sounding puzzled.

"Such a waste of energy" she said matter-of-factly.

Prue carefully laid Chris' head down onto the floor and stood, facing The Seer.

"Am I next?" she asked quietly.

"Don't be silly, why would I harm you?"

"If I kill you it will change the past, and then I'll never succeed" she surmised.

Prue spoke with quiet rage.

"You're a fool" she spat.

"He gave us something to stop you, my son gave us something that will beat you".

That caught The Seer's attention.

"You're bluffing" she snarled.

"Am I?" Prue teased.

"Guess you'll find out in the past" she said, smiling.

The Seer made to grab Prue but she astral projected back to her body at the last second.

"Let's go" she said to her sisters

"Where's Chris?" Phoebe asked gently.

"Not now" Prue replied.

"We need to take this copy of the book back with us, otherwise The Seer will use it".

Her sisters nodded as they realised what had happened upstairs.

"Prue I'm…"Phoebe began.

"Please Phoebe, please, not now" Prue said sadly.

"Let's say the spell, got the scroll?" Phoebe asked Piper.

Who held the scroll up and nodded.

As one they chanted, the manor began to tremble again, The Seer was tearing the whole thing down in anger.

" _A time for everything,_

 _And to everything its place_

 _Return what has been moved_

 _Through time and space._ "

Prue grabbed the book and together, The Charmed Ones were transported back to their own time.

They appeared in the Manor hallway in a burst of bright white light.

They'd only been back a second when Leo orbed into the Manor, looking panicked.

"Where the heck have you guys been I've been worried sick!" he said angrily.

"Not now Leo, we need some time" Phoebe said, patting him on the shoulder.

"It's been a hell of a long day".

End of Chapter Fifteen, stay tuned for Chapter Sixteen, "The Plan"


	16. The Plan

Charmed Reborn Chapter Sixteen, "The Plan".

Phoebe Halliwell was fast asleep, it was actually the first decent sleep she had had since returning from the future just over a week ago, her sisters had been deeply stressed since coming back to the present, she had been home alone almost all week.

Piper and Leo had gone on a late honeymoon and Prue had met up with her English hunk Will for some rest and relaxation. She couldn't blame them exactly, they had gone to the future to find that both their children ended up dead, not a cheery thought. Phoebe had tried to convince them that the future they saw was no longer set in stone thanks to Chris giving them the scroll, but it hadn't seemed to have had any kind of effect.

Peaceful dreams soon turned dark though, even in her sleep Phoebe felt the familiar pull of a premonition, it was one of her new astral visions, where she was able to physically manifest within the vision to get a better look around inside, what she saw this time was not good. Hordes upon hordes of evil creatures, demons, warlocks, shadows and worse marching down the Golden Gate Bridge, people around her were running and screaming, terrified of the army from hell. She bent down to pick up a newspaper, it was dated just one month from now, she heard a growl and turned around, she was face to face with some kind of ghoul, it raised what looked like a scythe made of energy and slashed it towards Phoebe.

"Aaaah!" she screamed as she awoke, jolting upright in bed, this was bad, very bad.

"Prue, it's your sister Phoebe, remember me?" Phoebe hissed down the phone the next morning.

"You need to come home, now!"

She had already left Piper a similar message, she'd even tried to call Leo to no avail, she wasn't selfish by any means, but she could have been in real trouble right now and quite frankly, she thought that the personal issues her sisters were facing that might not even end up happening took a backseat to the end of the world.

"I'm home!" a voice called from the hallway.

"Thank God" Phoebe said, jogging out the kitchen into the dining room.

"Where have you been?" Phoebe spat at her oldest sister as Prue walked in.

"I have been calling you all night and all morning!"  
"Keep your head screwed on Phoebs I'm back now ok?" Prue said, smiling at her sister's annoyance.

"Oh, you think this is funny, the end of the world is funny?" Phoebe asked sarcastically.

"Of course I don't, but we already knew it was coming thanks to our little trip".

"Yeah, but what we didn't know until now is that it's happening in a month's time" Phoebe said, growing panicky.

"Wait, a month?" Prue checked.

"Yes, did you not hear my message clearly?"

"Well, I started too and then I got kinda distracted by my Prince Charming" Prue said, gushing.

"Ew" Phoebe said quietly.

"So where's Piper?" Prue asked.

"Who knows? Spain? New York? Jupiter?"

"I'm sorry I worried you, it wasn't intentional, I just needed to stay away from the house for a few days" Prue said sombrely, remembering how her future son had died, and where he had died.

"No, Prue, I don't blame you for anything, but we got this scroll, and it's been a week and I haven't been able to do anything, because both my sisters went AWOL and so did our whitelighter".

"Aloha!" Piper yelled happily as her and Leo orbed into the hallway.

They both had garlands tied around their necks, and were both incredibly sun-tanned.

"I'm sorry do I know you?" Phoebe directed at them both as she stalked back into the kitchen.

Prue, Piper and Leo followed Phoebe into the kitchen with their tails between their legs.

"I got you some fabulous garlands of your own" Piper said guility.

Phoebe looked up with a stare so full of rage Leo took a step back.

"Yeah you better run, I've been calling your name all week!"

"Yeah, um, I had him put you on mute" Piper said, staring at the floor.

"Seriously?" Phoebe asked.

"The world is about to end, we have a scroll that can stop that and you all disappear and put me on mute?"

Phoebe grabbed her bag, saying nothing and walked out the back door, unable to be in the same room as her sisters right now.

"Guess we kinda screwed up huh?" Leo said quietly.

"Yep" Piper said, sinking into a chair.

"I don't think so Piper, Phoebe can get off her high horse, what we saw, what we found out, it was big, I think we deserved time to process that" Prue said.

"Prue, if Phoebe's vision was right, and they always are, we now have a month to prepare for this siege" Piper murmured.

"I know, so we need to put this behind us and get on with it, Leo will you see what the elders say about this scroll, what kind of language it's in would be a good start" Prue said hopefully.

"Sure, no problem, and uh, I recommend you make things up with Phoebe, fast" he said gently before orbing away with the scroll.

"Now what?" Piper asked.

"Now we find our sister" Prue answered.

Phoebe stormed down Prescott Street, she had no idea where she was headed, she just knew she had to be as far away from the Manor as possible, to say she was furious was putting it lightly, was she the only one who gave a damn about the world?

She made her way down an alley and stopped, at the end was a little restaurant she had gone too with Cole as well as Piper and Leo, her breath caught in her throat. She had been doing her best to not think of him these past weeks but now it hit her like a brick wall, she missed him so much, he had sacrificed so much for her, and he had paid for it with his life. Sometimes life just sucked Phoebe thought as she walked closer to the restaurant, she was so focused on her memories she didn't notice the five demons shimmer in behind her.

"Hello witch" one of them said.

Phoebe stopped in her tracks.

This presented a great opportunity to work out some of her aggression she thought. She waited until they were closer and quickly whirled around, slamming her palm up into the closest demons face, breaking his nose and sending him tumbling to the floor with a kick to the abdomen, she then levitated into the air and kicked the next demon in the face, she sunk back to the ground and turned to face the last three.

"Wait, we aren't here to fight you!" one of them said.

"Then why are you here?" she asked, curious.

"The Seer wants to know where you were last week, we're bounty hunters, if you just tell us where the three of you disappeared too we'll leave" he said.

"Not gonna happen" Phoebe spat as she ran up to the demon she had nicknamed "Chatty" and punched him in the face, then flipping around and catching him in the chest with her foot.

But before she had a chance to get to the next demon the two from before grabbed her from behind and shimmered away with their prize. Phoebe's purse lay by itself to the side of the alley.

"I can't find her" Piper said, holding a scrying crystal above a map.

"Maybe she put us on mute" Prue said, giggling.

"Haha, very funny" Piper said sarcastically.

"But seriously, she isn't anywhere".

"Leo!" Prue yelled at the ceiling.

Leo appeared to the duo in a flurry of orbs.

"I haven't heard from the elders about the scroll yet, sorry" he said sheepishly.

"It's ok, this is actually about Phoebe, we can't find her anywhere" Prue said.

Leo shut his eyes and concentrated.

"I can't sense her" he said, confused.

"That means she's either dead or in the underworld" Piper sighed.

"I'm going with underworld, since that seems to be what always happens" Prue said.

"Guess we're going on another trip" Piper said, grabbing Leo's hand.

"Like I'd tell you anything" Phoebe said defiantly.

"You'll tell me in due course" The Seer said coolly.

"How about I put you back in that cage?" she said, smiling.

"How about I knock your teeth out?!" Phoebe snarled.

The Seer laughed.

"I will say this for you Charmed Ones, always good for comedy relief".

"Like when Belthazor died" she sneered.

"I found that particularly funny".

"You shut your mouth you evil bitch" Phoebe said with quiet rage.

A thought struck her out of nowhere, she projected those feelings of rage and grief to the demons around her and to The Seer.

"What is this?" she hissed as grief possessed her, for a moment she looked on the verge of tears, Phoebe didn't waste any time, she pushed the now grief induced demons off her and ran out the throne room, making her way God knows where, all the time she'd spent down here and she still didn't know the way around.

"After her!" she heard The Seer yell in the distance.

"Here!" a man's voice called.

"Huh?" Phoebe said, puzzled.

"Over here, now!" the voice said again.

She looked into the wall adjacent to her, a man's head was poking out of it, he was balding and weird looking.

"Who are you?" she asked, sceptical.

"We don't have time for that, they're coming, you want to be saved or not?!" he barked as his head went back inside the wall.

Phoebe heard footsteps.

"Guess I don't have a choice" she murmured, jumping into the wall.

"Where are we?" Phoebe asked the strange man.

"This looks familiar".

Phoebe turned her head, she was on a big hill, she could see a big city sprawled out before her, lots of buildings and lights.

She turned her head and gasped.

She was standing below the Hollywood sign.

"How the heck did we get here?" she demanded.

"Oh relax, it's just an illusion" the man said.

He produced a big staff with an orb on the end, he tapped the ground with it twice and Los Angeles vanished, in its place Phoebe stood in a dank cave.

"I like the other one better" she murmured.

"Don't we all?" the man said sarcastically.

"Who are you?" Phoebe wondered.

"I'm a wizard, the last of my kind" he said sadly.

"Do you have a name?" she asked.

"Not one you could pronounce".

"Why did you help me?"

"Because I hate The Source and demons in general, you seemed like a nice lady so I thought I'd see if you needed any help".

"Well thanks I guess, are we still in the underworld?" she asked.

The wizard nodded his head, "Yep".

"Do you know how to get out of here?" she wondered, getting impatient.

"Oh yeah, but only back through the way you came in" he said unhelpfully.

"So you just wall yourself off from the rest of creation, no wonder you're the last".

"Hey Lady, I saved you, least you could do is show some gratitude".

"Whatever" Phoebe said before turning around and jumping back through the wall.

"This is turning into the annual vacation" Piper said dryly.

"Try weekly" Prue chipped in.

"Can you sense her Leo?" Piper asked.

He shook his head, "not yet".

They turned a corner and were faced with a long corridor.

"Come on" Prue muttered taking the lead.

They almost got to the end of the corridor when a body came flying out of the wall next to them, slamming into Prue and knocking the both of them to the ground.

"Phoebe?!" Piper exclaimed, helping her up whilst Leo attended to Prue.

"Oh hey guys, great timing!" Phoebe said happily.

Prue looked at the wall.

"Another portal?" she asked her youngest sister.

"Guess they have 50% off or something this month" Phoebe joked.

"What happened to you?" Piper asked.

"The Seer wanted info on where we were last week, she said that she needed to know because us going to the future may have changed her own".

"Good" Piper said hopefully.

"Come on, let's get outta here" Leo said, grabbing the three sisters and orbing home.

As soon as the four of them returned to the manor Leo heard a jingle and left to attend to whatever he was being summoned for.

"Phoebe I'm sorry" Prue said quietly.

"We both are" Piper chimed in.

"Right" Prue agreed.

"I hope you understand that we just needed time, I know I didn't know him for long but he was my son, and I watched him die, and Piper's daughter had died, we needed time to process that".

"Yeah I get it, you don't need to explain, I'm sorry too".

"Group hug?" Phoebe asked happily.

The three sister's embraced before the shining light of orbs pulled them out of it.

"That was quick" Piper said to Leo.

"What's that face for?" she asked as she noticed Leo had his stern face on.

"The Elders translated the scroll, turns out its old whitelighter scripture, they had a copy just like it up there".

"Whoa, what does that mean?" Phoebe asked.

"It means that The Elders have this weapon, this ancient device depicted on the scroll, it's called "Heaven's Gate" Leo explained.

"And it seals all evil away?" Prue confirmed.

"Yes, but there's a catch".

Piper snorted.

"There always is with them".

"There are three pieces scattered across the magical realm, these three pieces shown on the scroll are what make up the gate, The Elders want to test each of you, send one of you each after a piece".

"No way" Phoebe said.

"What if we need the power of three?"

"You won't, at least, according to them, each challenge is uniquely made to fit each of you, and you'll have a guide with you for each challenge, someone there to help you get through it" Leo concluded.

"We don't have a choice, who's first?" Prue asked.

It was late in the evening, and Paige Matthews was done with work for the day, today had been particularly difficult thanks to a sleazy ex-husband trying to get custody for a kid he cared nothing for. Some days she wondered why certain people were even allowed to reproduce and others not when clearly others deserved the blessing of children more.

She grabbed her keys and walked out the exit of the social services where she worked and walked to her car, she had just made it there when she noticed someone creeping up behind her by seeing their reflection in the mirror.

She whipped around to face him, it was the sleazy ex-husband from earlier today.

"You think you can take my kid away from me?" he asked threateningly.

"Please sir, we can work this out at court" she said, trying to keep calm.

His hand snatched out and grabbed her by the throat.

"It won't get that far, I can assure you" he said angrily.

"Somebody help!" Paige shouted.

The man slapped her around the face and she collapsed to the ground in pain, cupping her red cheek.

Paige looked over the man's shoulder, was it possible? A handsome blonde man has just appeared behind the ex-husband in a flurry of blue light.

The ex-husband picked her up by the neck and lifted her to her feet.

"I want you to watch me while I kill you" he said quietly, producing a knife from his jacket pocket.

Paige screamed as the knife came sailing through the air, about to plunge into her gut when she felt a strange sensation, a whoosh in her stomach, like her whole body was somersaulting, the next thing she knew she opened her eyes and she was standing behind the blonde man.

He looked completely confused.

"How did you do that?" he demanded.

"How can you orb?"

"I don't know what that even is!" Paige yelled.

"Watch out!" she yelled as the crazy knife wielding ex-husband came running at them, the blonde man wrestled the knife away and punched him in the face, sending him to the ground, out cold.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing" the man said.

Paige wasn't about to give her name to some stranger after she'd already been close to getting murdered tonight.

The man's face softened.

"You don't need to be scared, I'm here to help you, my name is Leo".

"Ok, I'm ready" Prue said, walking out the kitchen armed with potions galore.

"Where's Leo?" she asked her sisters.

"He said he had a new charge to deal with and that it was urgent, he had to leave" Piper explained.

"Oh, so do we know when the test starts?" she wondered.

"I'm guessing now" Phoebe said in terror as a huge wormhole opened up in the living room, large, blue and swirling.

"Wish me luck?" Prue asked sincerely.

Piper and Phoebe hugged her and wished her luck and let her jump through the portal.

"God I hope this goes ok" Piper muttered as the portal snapped shut behind Prue.

Prue landed with a thud on some soft grass.

"Where the heck am I?" she asked the air.

She looked around, and realised all her potions had vanished.

"Thanks for the help!" she shouted angrily at the sky.

"You're welcome" a gravelly voice said from behind her.

She whirled around and stood stock still in shock.

"Andy?"

End of Chapter Sixteen, stay tuned for Chapter Seventeen, "Prudence Halliwell"


	17. Prudence Halliwell

Charmed Reborn Chapter Seventeen, "Prudence Halliwell".

"I'm sorry it's such a mess" Paige Matthews said as she showed the man named Leo around her small apartment, she'd been looking for somewhere flashier since she'd been promoted to social worker but just hadn't had the time to fully commit to searching.

"It's ok, I'm used to a messy home, my wife likes to blow things up" Leo said, restraining himself from smiling.

Paige had had enough of small talk.

"So what is going on?" she asked bluntly.

"One second I'm being attacked by a crazy guy and the next I'm halfway across the parking lot".

"I can't explain it really, well actually I kind of can" Leo said, stumped for words.

Paige raised her eyebrow at him.

"Great" she said as she threw herself into an arm chair.

"What you did was orb" Leo started.

"A what now?" Paige asked, confused.

"It's a magical power, I can do it too, but only whitelighters are supposed to be able to do it, when you called for me you had the aura of a witch".

"Rewind one sec, whitelighters? Witches?"

"Ok, I'm not explaining this right" Leo said, embarrassed.

"Basically you are a witch with magical powers, and I'm a whitelighter, kind of like a guardian angel for witches, we guide you and keep you safe" Leo explained.

"You're nuts" Paige said in disbelief.

"You saw it for yourself, you saw me orb in, and I saw you orb as well".

"Well, start with that" Paige suggested.

"How do I orb?"

"You concentrate really hard on a location or a person, and then you imagine yourself being at that place or with the person".

"Try it" Leo recommended.

Paige stood and shut her eyes, concentrating on her bathroom, she imagined the blue light surrounding her and filling her entire being.

She opened her eyes, nothing, she was still by the arm chair.

Leo walked closer to her and suddenly let out a piercing scream right in her face.

Paige gasped and felt her whole body tingle as she orbed out of the room and back.

She looked down.

"I'm in the same position" she said, disappointed.

"But you did orb, remember in the parking lot? You orbed when that guy was attacking you, you were scared, right now I think you can only orb yourself in and out of danger, not to other places, but that should grow with time" Leo explained.

Paige sat back down.

"I'm getting a headache" she said rubbing her eyes.

"I must admit, this is a first for me as well, I've never heard of a witch who can orb" Leo said, still puzzled.

"Well maybe I'm a bluelighter like you" she suggested.

"That's whitelighter" Leo corrected her.

"And no, you're not, at least not completely, you see whitelighters are immortal, we don't age, and you do".

"Rub it in" Paige said dryly.

"I know some people who can maybe help us figure it out, do you trust me?" Leo asked.

"Well you don't seem like a knife wielding maniac, so I guess for now, I do" Paige said as she stood to take Leo's hand.

The two orbed out the apartment.

"How are you here?" Prue asked Andy.

"I'm a spirit Prue, one sent to guide you through this task".

"I've been watching, pretty much the whole time, waiting for you to be happy again".

Prue grew indignant.

"What do you mean, happy again?"

"Come on Prue, since I died you haven't really been involved with anyone".

"That's absurd, there's been Justin and Jack" she said, folding her arms.

"And how long did they last?" Andy asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Prue ignored him and took a look around, all she could see were huge mountains and oceans, was she on an island?

"Where are we?" she asked.

"We're in the magical realm, a different dimension, where magical creatures exist, elves, fairies, leprechauns" Andy said.

Prue cracked up.

"Leprechauns?" she spat out in between laughs.

"Seriously?" she said eventually once she'd regained her composure.

"You know The Charmed Ones are legendary in this realm, the fearsome trio of warrior witches who too down The Source".

"Well that's nice, but meeting my adoring fans is not why I'm here, and since The Elders sent you here to guide me I suppose you're going to help me find what I'm looking for?" she queried.

Andy nodded.

"Something like that".

"Piper! Phoebe!" Leo yelled as he orbed into the Manor with Paige.

"Calm down I'm coming" Piper said she ran in from the conservatory.

"What's going on? Who is she?" Piper asked, looking at Paige.

"I'm Paige, and we've actually met before" Paige said, blushing.

"Wait, I know you!" Piper said suddenly.

"You're that social worker that thought I was being abused by my husband!" she said shrilly.

"Wait, what?" Leo asked turning to Paige.

"Oh boy, this is awkward" Paige said looking down at the floor.

"I didn't actually think he was hurting you, I was just doing my job, we were phoned from the hospital because a doctor thought you might be in some trouble is all".

"Well I'm not, as I'm sure you've seen my husband is an angel" Piper said coldly.

"Ok, I think you need to calm down ok Piper?" Leo asked his wife.

"Hmph" Piper said, turning her back to them and walking back into the conservatory.

Leo and Paige followed.

"So what's she doing here anyway? Piper asked as she sat down by the window.

"I assume she's your new charge?"

"Yes she is, which is why I've bought her here, she can orb" Leo said.

"Wait, but she isn't a whitelighter?"

"No, The Elders sent me to look after a witch, but Paige here can orb for some reason".

"Huh" Piper said, stumped.

"Well I can check the book if you want" Piper said looking down at the coffee table, which Leo noticed had two books of shadows on.

"Tell me you aren't looking through this one" he asked pointing to the one from the future.

"No, not yet, but I figure we're changing that future anyway, what could it hurt?"

"A lot if you see something that could influence the future in a negative way" Leo tried to explain.

"They look so old" Paige said.

"Yeah, they've been through a lot".

Paige placed a hand on the one from the present, and the triquetra on the front immediately started to glow.

"What's going on?" Paige asked, panicking.

"I've never seen it do that before" Piper said.

The book then began to surround itself in electricity before throwing Paige across the room. She landed with a crack on the floor.

"Oh my God" Piper said, standing up.

Leo ran over to an unconscious Paige to heal her.

"Wait, don't, she's evil, the book threw her off!" Piper yelled.

"We both saw what happened Piper" Leo said as he begun to heal her.

"Besides she can't be evil, otherwise she wouldn't be able to orb and more importantly The Elders wouldn't have sent me to protect her".

"I guess" Piper said, uncertain.

"And it didn't throw her off straight away, which is what the book usually does".

Paige groaned and got to her feet.

"What the hell was that?" she snarled.

"Magic" Piper said simply.

"God, what have you turned me in too?" she directed at Leo before running out of the Manor.

"Paige wait!" Leo called after her.

"Leave her be Leo, she needs some time to process".

"Yeah I suppose so" Leo said, disappointed.

"Where's Phoebe?" he wondered suddenly.

"She went out to get ice cream, Prue is still gone and we're panic eaters".

"You want me to dive down into that?" Prue asked, checking.

"Yep" Andy said.

Prue looked down, way down to the bottom of the cliff Andy wanted her to jump from, down into the cold, blue sea.

"Afterlife has made you crazy, I'm not jumping into that" she spat and turned away.

Andy ran to catch up.

"But that's where you'll find the first piece of the gate".

"Don't care, not doing it".

"Why don't you tell me what's really bothering you Prue?" Andy asked.

Prue stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"My presence here is annoying to you, I can tell".

"Because it hurts!" Prue yelled in his face.

"Every day I wake up and I miss you, I miss your smile, your wit, your laugh, everything!" she screamed.

"And I can't move on, I can't find love with anyone else because I can't help comparing them to you" she said, tears erupting from her eyes.

"You were my first love Andy, my only love, my soulmate".

"And then you died, and I lost a piece of my heart".

"Now it's time to get that piece back" he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Prue, I want you to move on, I'm not coming back, but you're still going forward, and I don't want you to do that alone" he murmured into her ear.

"I know you have your sisters, but that's not the same kind of love".

"Do it, take the dive, be free of me, don't ever forget me, but find a new piece to replace the one you lost".

Andy kissed her forehead.

"Let go and be free" he said before fading away.

Prue stood and wiped her eyes of tears, and with determination ran to the edge of the cliff before diving off the end without even thinking of it.

She had gotten over her fear of deep water long ago thanks to Barbas, now it was time to get what she'd came for.

She plunged down into the blue water, not feeling anything, the water itself seemed magical, not having any kind of temperature.

She swam and swam, she seemed to not be running out of oxygen either which was good she noted.

Eventually she came across a clearing, a treasure box poked out from an underwater sand dune, strange, Prue thought, that it was sitting here with no one protecting it.

Something about the box seemed to pull her in, like she was a piece of metal and the box was a magnet, she swam towards it and laid her hands on it.

Only for the box to fly open and a large sea spirit erupt from within, it looked like a mermaid, but in spirit form, with long dark hair and blue eyes, Prue was stunned for a moment when she realised that she was looking at herself, or at least some kind of strange mermaid spirit form.

The spirit Prue raised a hand and Prue was stunned once again as Will emerged from the box, he was unconscious, Prue dived towards him but the mermaid swatted her away with her tail.

I don't think so Prue thought as she waved her arm and sent a wave of crashing hot water towards the mermaid with her telekinetic powers, must work differently underwater she thought, the mermaid was repelled for a moment and Prue made her move, she lowered her head and astral projected to Will, she grabbed him and with a start realised that her body was also on the move, smashing the mermaid with more waves of telekinesis, she switched back to her body and was relieved to find that astral Prue was continuing to operate, getting Will to safety, it was as if she was controlling two minds at once, maybe another advancement of her powers, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

She raised both arms above her head and let loose an explosive blast of telekinesis, much like her future self had been able to produce when she had inhabited her body.

Prue concentrated and astral projected back to the astral Prue and Will, the two becoming one once again.

She carried Will behind her with her telekinesis, luckily he seemed to be able to breathe underwater as well, eventually they washed up on a sandy beach.

Thank God Prue thought, she stood, soaking wet and turned to face Will, only to find a small golden wing sitting in place of him.

"What the heck?" she wondered.

"It wasn't really him" Andy said, reappearing and making Prue jump out her skin.

"The piece of Heaven's Gate took the shape of the thing your heart truly desires, love".

"You did it Prue, you got the piece of the artefact and you managed to realise that moving on from me is possible".

"I'm proud of you" Andy said with a sad smile.

"What was that thing that attacked me?" she asked.

"It was the guardian of the piece, it takes the form of whatever is standing in your way, in this case, yourself".

"It was so weird, my powers were super strong down there as well" Prue said.

"It's because of where you are, the magical realm, the dimension where all magic originated, your magic is much stronger here" Andy explained.

"So it's like the opposite to the underworld?" she wondered.

"Sort of" Andy said, shrugging.

"Anyway, go, your sisters are waiting for you, I'll see you again one day, hopefully in about fifty or so years from now" he laughed to himself as he faded away once again.

A portal opened behind Prue, she grabbed the piece and jumped through.

"Prue!" Phoebe yelped as he sister jumped through a large portal into the living room.

Phoebe was so shocked she'd dropped her bowl of ice cream on the couch.

"Dammit" she cursed as she stood to envelope her oldest sister in a hug, ignoring the spillage.

"We were so worried, and ew you're all wet".

"What's going on?!" Piper yelled as she ran into the living room.

"Oh thank goodness" she said, relaxing for the first time all day.

"Well?" Phoebe asked.

Prue lifted her arm, her hand held the first piece to Heaven's Gate.

She smiled triumphantly.

Leo then walked into the room.

"Prue, I'm glad it went well, I was worried about you" he said.

"No need to worry about me, anyways who's next?" she asked him.

He looked at Piper, "You ready?"

End of Chapter Seventeen, stay tuned for Chapter Eighteen, "Piper Halliwell".


	18. Piper Halliwell

Charmed Reborn Chapter Eighteen, "Piper Halliwell".

"I'm ready" Piper said confidently.

"I know you are honey, good luck" Leo said as he kissed her hand.

Piper kissed him softly and turned and smiled at her sisters who gave her a big thumbs up.

"Here goes something" she said as she walked through the shimmering blue portal.

"Wow" Piper said as she walked out the portal into what seemed like a massive forest, the trees sparkled and the flowers shone, glimmering in the sunlight. It was beautiful, Piper felt at one with nature here.

Thank God Phoebe isn't here to make me take my clothes off she thought.

"Wonderful isn't it?" a familiar voice said in the air.

"Mom?" Piper asked.

Patty walked out from inside a tall tree directly ahead of Piper, coming forth like an angel sent from above surrounded by white light.

"So I guess you're my guide huh?" Piper queried.

Patty nodded.

"I'm here to help you through this sweetie".

"Walk with me" Patty said, gesturing to her side.

Piper walked through the clearing with her mother, not quite believing what was happening, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Patty asked, smiling.

"I'm walking through an enchanted forest with my mother, my dead mother, not something most people imagine I would think" Piper replied.

"I suppose not" Patty said.

"You see that big tree over there?" Patty asked her daughter.

Piper nodded, "It's huge".

"It's the heart of the enchanted forest, where all life here began, they say that its where all life began, in this forest, and then branched out to create the other dimensions".

"Remind me to put that in the book of shadows" Piper said sarcastically.

"You always were the shrewd one Piper" Patty said observantly.

"How would you even know?" Piper said suddenly, bitterness clouding her words.

"You're right, I wasn't there, but your Grams told me, I get her to tell me stories of the three of you all the time, hoping that she can fill me in on what I missed".

"What's it like in the afterlife? Do you have clubs or games or anything like that?" Piper wondered.

"We have everything up there, anything you can dream of, most of the time I imagine me surrounded by all my daughters, the fiv…..the four of us just hanging out together, getting to know one another, having girly moments" Patty explained.

"It sounds silly now that I say it out loud".

"No it doesn't" Piper said.

"Sometimes I imagine what it would have been like, if we had grown up with you and dad raising us, how much more like a family we might have been".

"Sometimes I think it's all my fault".

"How so?" Patty asked, confused.

"Everytime a family member leaves, I always feel like it's something I've done, that somehow it was my fault, and now I can't even get pregnant".

Patty gasped.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry, I didn't know".

"Well, the doctor says it's not impossible, just difficult, it could happen, when we went into the future I had a daughter, so I must have found some way around it" Piper said hopefully.

The duo had finally arrived at the gigantic tree in the middle of the forest, fairies flitted over it, decorating different branches with ribbons and flowers in offering to its power.

"Let's go" Patty said.

"Go where?" Piper wondered.

Patty then took Piper's hand and the two of them walked into the tree.

"So I hear you have a new charge" Prue said to Leo.

"Yeah, it's a confusing one at that" Leo said disparately.

Prue looked to Phoebe for some information.

Phoebe swallowed her ice cream.

"She can orb, but she's a witch and alive" she said between mouthfuls.

"That is weird" Prue said quietly.

Leo nodded.

"Have you asked The Elders about her?" Prue asked him.

"I tried, they just said they don't know anything about her".

"Don't worry Leo, once this is all over we'll help you figure it out" Phoebe said, smiling.

"Thanks" he said anxiously, his foot tapping the floor.

"She'll be ok Leo, Piper isn't afraid of anything" Prue said.

"Except spiders, she hates spiders" Phoebe giggled to herself.

"Well as long as no eight-legged freaks are on this quest, she should be fine" Prue said confidently.

"Where are we?" Piper asked.

"On a journey through time, the magic of the tree lets us go back, see past memories, to help figure things out, we're at the manor" Patty said.

Piper looked around, the manor looked older, she barely even recognised it.

"We got rid of that phone decades ago, when is this?" she wondered.

"February 28th, 1978, you're in bed upstairs with poison ivy, you caught it at…"

"Camp" Piper finished.

"Yes".

"But today is…."

"I know" Patty said.

The front door slammed open, Victor walked in holding a sleeping Phoebe, Prue stood to his right, her hand in his, shaking in terror.

Grams ran out from the dining room, tissues in her hand.

"Oh girls thank God" she said between sobs, checking to see if her grand-daughters were alright.

"Prue, take your sister upstairs ok, the grown-ups need to talk".

Prue did as she was told and took Phoebe from Victor, she then dropped her on her head.

"Whoops" Prue said, picking Phoebe up.

"Careful now sweetie" Victor said, giving her a reassuring smile.

After they left Victor started on Grams.

"I warned you this would happen, and it has" he snarled at her.

"Don't take that tone with me" she spat.

"Today is not the day".

"You really want this kind of life for my daughters?" Victor asked worriedly.

"Battling demons? Their mother is dead now thanks to that kind of life, I won't have it" he yelled.

"And what exactly are you going to do about it?" Grams asked him.

"Don't challenge me Penny, now that Patty is gone I have full custody of the girls, I'm taking them and I'm moving out the city next week, I won't have them ending up like their mother".

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a funeral to plan" he said, slamming the door on his way out.

"I never knew he wanted us to move away" Piper said to Patty, tears falling from her eyes.

"Come on, next memory" she said comfortingly.

The images swirled and changed, but they were once again back at the manor.

"When are we now?" Piper asked her mother.

"A week later, the day after my funeral, just watch" she said.

Victor and Grams were sitting at the dining room table, shooting daggers at each other.

"I don't care about what you're going to say Penny, I'm taking my children and I'm going, I won't go through this with you again" he said sharply.

"I know, that's why I thought we could have one last family dinner together".

Prue and Phoebe sat either side of him whilst Piper sat next to Grams.

"Help me in the kitchen?" Grams asked her.

Young Piper nodded eagerly and followed her grandmother out.

"Let's go with them, you need to see this" Patty said to Piper.

They followed them into the kitchen.

"Now Piper, give this to your daddy ok?" Grams handed Piper a cup of what seemed to be hot tea.

"Oh wait, forgot the most important ingredient" she said, throwing a herb in, though young Piper didn't notice, adult Piper did, as the herb hit the hot tea is glowed white for a split second, with magic.

"What is that?" Piper asked her mother.

"Just watch" she replied.

Little Piper walked back into the dining room, Grams following behind.

"Here you go daddy!" Little Piper said happily.

"Oh thank you sweetie, it smells delicious" Victor said, drinking deeply from the cup.

His face then began to glow a soft cream colour, warping his face somewhat before wearing off, becoming normal again.

"Oh my God" Piper gasped.

"I remember this, this is the last time we saw Dad for twenty years".

Victor pushed back his chair, a blank expression on his face.

"Goodbye girls" he said vacantly.

He then stood and walked out of the manor, never to be seen again by his daughters until years later.

"Ok girls, time for dinner" Grams said, a glint of triumph in her eyes.

The memories swirled again, and this time Piper and Patty emerged from the tree, back in the forest clearing.

"What the hell was that?" Piper demanded.

"It's what really happened the day Victor left".

"But Grams, she cast a spell on him?" Piper asked in disbelief.

Patty nodded sadly.

"I didn't talk to her for years once she told me what she'd done, I just ignored her when she tried to summon me".

"But why would she do that?" Piper asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"She had her reasons, one day she'll explain them to you, but she's still your Grams, she still loved you more than anything" Patty explained.

"But you don't understand, I spent my entire life thinking it was my fault" Piper said, sinking to the ground.

"I was the one that handed him that cup of tea, I thought he hated it and that's why he went".

"Why would you think that?" Patty asked, kneeling before her daughter.

"Because that's what young, five year old me thought had happened, I guess I never really got over it" Piper said, tear falling onto her cheeks.

"It always happens, it's always my fault, I wasn't there to help when you and Grams died, and then I thought it was my fault that dad left, and when The Elders took Leo, and then when Phoebe was taken by The Source".

Piper hung her head in her hands, crying tears of sorrow.

"Listen to me Piper, none of that was your fault, I was killed by a demon, your Grams died of a heart attack, you just saw how your father left, and Leo, he loves you more than anything, I saw that on your wedding day, and Phoebe was kidnapped, tricked, you couldn't have prevented that" Patty said, trying to reassure her daughter.

"Hey, listen to me" Patty demanded sharply.

"You're not the reason we keep leaving, you're the reason we keep staying, you're our heart Piper".

"I think of The Charmed Ones as heart, mind and soul, you're the heart, Prue is the mind, and Phoebe is the soul, all needed within the trio in order to work together successfully".

"Do you understand what it is I'm saying?" Patty asked.

"You're the innocent in all this, not one of those things was your fault" she said gently, stroking Piper's hair.

"I just noticed you're corporeal again" she said, laughing through her tears.

"That's because I'm your guide, but also because I'm this" Patty then began to glow white, forming into a new shape, it was the shape of a medium sized golden ball, the same whitelighter language written all over it like it was on the scroll.

"You've finally learned your lesson Piper" Patty said, appearing from the tree again.

"You don't need to blame yourself for those things anymore" she said before fading into the air.

Piper picked up the golden ball and stood, relief flooding through her. That had been a hugely emotional moment for her, finally learning that she wasn't responsible for those things, it gave her a warm feeling she had not had for a long time.

She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again she was standing in the manor by the stairs.

"Whoa" she said.

"Piper?" she heard Leo's voice coming from the kitchen.

"Piper!" he yelled as he saw her and ran to her, engulfing her in a bone crushing hug.

"Thank God" he said burying his face in her shoulder.

"I'm ok, look I got the gold ball thingy" she said, holding it up.

"That looks so much cooler than the wing thingy I got" Prue said, walking in with Phoebe behind Leo.

"Let's go, it's my turn now right?" Phoebe asked Leo.

"I guess" he replied.

As if on cue, a portal opened up behind them.

"Let's do this" she said to herself as she ran into it.

"Good luck Phoebs" she heard Prue call behind her.

What Phoebe was about to see would change her life, and her sister's lives, forever.

End of Chapter Eighteen, stay tuned for Chapter Nineteen, "Phoebe Halliwell".


	19. Phoebe Halliwell

Charmed Reborn Chapter Nineteen, "Phoebe Halliwell"

"Whoa, where am I?" Phoebe asked herself.

All she could see for miles was white, blinding light, as her eyes adjusted she became aware that she was not alone, small wisps of energy floated in the air, some merging together, others separating.

"What are these?" she wondered.

"They're spirits".

Phoebe turned around, Cole stood there watching her.

Phoebe's hand clasped her mouth to stop herself from sobbing.

"Are you real?" she asked.

"It's me Phoebe, I'm a spirit too".

Phoebe ran the few meters separating them and went straight through him, landing on the floor.

"Ouch"

"Yeah about that, I'm still dead, a ghost, non-corporeal" he said smiling, poking his finger through her arm to prove the point.

"Great" Phoebe sighed, standing.

"But what are you doing here?" she wondered.

"I'm your guide if you will".

"Thank God I'm in safe, non-corporeal hands" she giggled.

Cole laughed as well.

"I miss you" he said.

"And I miss you" she said back.

"But I'm not here for visits Cole, I'm here for a certain artefact".

"Oh I know, The Elders filled me in before I got here, very ambitious of you".

"Yep, you could say that" Phoebe said, unsure.

"Prue and Piper already got theirs, I can't let them down, they said they had challenges, what's mine?"

"You task isn't too hard, you just need to walk around the heavens with me, use your power, get over your fears, that sort of thing".

"My fears?" she questioned.

"Of being evil, and your guilt".

"That's ridiculous Cole, I'm not evil, not anymore".

"But you don't really believe that".

Phoebe stopped walking.

"Did you take up Barbas' mantle in the afterlife by any chance?"

"Very funny Phoebe, search deep inside yourself, you need to overcome this if you want to become a true paragon of good, something you'd have never become if I were still alive".

"Cole, don't say that, every day all I think about is you, getting you back".

"And it needs to stop, you need to move on, you don't need to feel guilty about my death, it wasn't by your hand".

"Look" he said pointing at a wisp of energy.

"Touch it lightly, and see where your new destiny might take you".

Phoebe did as she was told and carefully pulled the orb into her hand, holding it gently as not to disturb whatever energy she was holding.

She gasped as she was thrown into a premonition, one that would change her life forever.

She surveyed the scene, it looked like she was in the attic.

She heard screaming and whirled around.

Lying on the sofa near the back window was her mom and Grams and strangely Sam, her mom's old whitelighter.

"Come on Patty just push, you can do it!" he was yelling at her.

"What the hell?" Phoebe said to herself as she got closer.

Patty was giving birth. Was this how she'd been born? Why was Sam here and not dad?

"It's ok sweetheart just one final push and it'll be over!" Grams yelled reassuringly.

Patty gave one final burst and the baby came out fully from the womb, Sam cut the cord with just a touch of his finger.

The baby was surrounded in white orbs, but only for a few seconds before they died down.

Shock rumbled through Phoebe's stomach, this wasn't her.

Patty stood straight away.

"Patty you need rest" Sam said sternly.

"No, she needs to do this now, before you both become too attached" Grams said hurriedly.

"If they find out all hell will break loose".

"Sam let's go" Patty said, grabbing the baby from his arms.

"I know a perfect church where we can leave her".

"Patty please" Sam begged.

"I've made up my mind, please don't make this any harder".

Sam took her hand and the three of them orbed out the attic, leaving Grams sitting on the floor, crying tears of despair into the sofa.

Phoebe staggered backwards as the vision ended and she let go of the wisp of energy.

"What in the heck was that?!" she demanded Cole.

"What that real?" she asked.

"Did it feel real?" he queried.

Phoebe nodded her head.

"Oh my God, mom had another daughter with her whitelighter".

"How did we not know about this? Why didn't anyone tell us?" Phoebe asked, still in shock.

"You've seen her before I believe" Cole said lightly.

"What? When?" Phoebe wondered curiously.

"When you went to the future, the woman in the cage".

"Aunt Paige" Phoebe murmured.

"I can't believe it, Prue and Piper are gonna freak".

"That's not all you're here to see though, I don't quite think you realise just how powerful you've become, you could probably go toe to toe with The Seer when it comes to visions now" Cole said.

"Yeah right" Phoebe snorted.

"She's hundreds of years old, I'm 27, how could I possibly be more powerful?"  
"You're a Charmed One Phoebe, one of the most powerful witches of all time" Cole said simply.

"Take a look" he said point at another wisp.

Phoebe sighed and took hold.

Once again a premonition took hold, again of the past, but much further back than before.

She was in a crowd of people who were chanting something, where was she?  
She gasped as she looked up and saw Melinda Warren, about to be burnt at the stake, she was tied around a huge log, it holding her there, she was trapped.

Phoebe knew there was nothing she could do, this was just a vision after all.

But she paid closer attention, Melinda was talking with someone, who was it?  
Phoebe walked closer and gasped again, it was Matthew Tate, the warlock responsible for her death, if only this were real she thought, she'd kick his butt to high heavens and back.

She moved closer, eager to hear what she was saying to him.

"You may have won today Matthew, but it won't last for I have seen the future, and I know what is to come, three witches, more powerful than any ever known will one day be born and will rid this world of your filth, mark my words, The Charmed Ones will rise!" she all but yelled in his face.

Melinda turned around, her eyes widened, Phoebe staggered back, she could see her.

Were they sharing some kind of psychic link?  
"Go my child, I don't want you to see this" she said gently.

Phoebe nodded and disappeared.

She awoke from her vision.

"You see?" Cole asked.

"You were prophesized, all three of you, by the greatest witch who had ever lived".

"The Source, The Seer, they're nothing compared to that, if there's one weakness the three of you share, it's your lack of confidence and understanding in your abilities, together you could reduce this planet to rubble if you wanted, why do you think every evil being wants your powers and your book?"

Phoebe nodded in understanding.

"You're a force for good Phoebe, not evil".

"You think she's ok?" Piper asked Prue.

"I think we'd know by now if she wasn't" Prue shrugged.

"Who do you think is guiding her, I had mom, you had Andy" Piper wondered.

"Well we've both had people who we loved, who are now dead, I'm guessing a certain half-demon" Prue said, smiling.

"No wonder she isn't back yet, they're probably too busy doing it".

"Piper!" yelled Prue sarcastically.

"Gross".

"What are these orbs anyway?" Phoebe asked Cole as they meandered around.

"They're spirits, at least, ones that are in heaven, one's that were good and got great rewards".

"Oh, so does that mean that you…" Phoebe begun to ask.

"Oh I wasn't in heaven, or hell, sort of in between".

"Purgatory?" Phoebe gasped in shock.

Cole nodded.

"It's not so bad really, I've been working on a great spirit tan" he said jokingly.

"Don't worry about me Phoebe, The Elders said they'd reduce my sentence once I'd helped you".

"Oh, well that's something I guess".

"This one" Cole said pointing at another energy orb.

"Last one".

"And possibly the most important".

Phoebe braced herself as she took hold of the orb, and the vision she received from it was unlike any she had ever had.

She stood floating above a group of beings, all dressed in light blue robes, all different shapes and sizes, races and genders, who were they?

They were all looking down at something.

She realised with a start that they were peering down at the Earth.

Are these the Elders?

No Phoebe thought, this was something different.

She was startled as The Seer appeared before her, she was naked.

Ew Phoebe thought, gonna have nightmares over that.

The beings were conversing with her, Phoebe floated closer.

"Now you go back, and fulfil your destiny" a woman in the front said to The Seer.

She then vanished in a blinding light.

"Will she do it?" a man asked.

"Her destiny is still unclear, time will tell".

Phoebe closed her eyes and opened them again, she was back with Cole, the vision had ended.

"I have absolutely no idea what that was about" she admitted.

"You will, in time" he said.

"But now it's time for your greatest challenge yet, no more visions".

"See that light?" he asked her, pointing towards a white swirling portal.

"Go through it, and overcome your fear".

"You aren't coming with me? She asked.

He shook his head.

"You have to win this one on your own, good luck" and with that he vanished into thin air.

Phoebe turned around to face the portal, she slowly made her way across the heavens to get to it.

Here goes nothing she thought as she walked through.

And came face to face with herself.

"Huh?" Phoebe asked herself, or her double to be more accurate.

She took a closer look, her double had pure black eyes, like The Source.

Before she could say anymore the double lunged for her.

"Evil witch!" the double screamed as she landed on top of Phoebe, pinning her down.

"Get off me!" Phoebe yelled as she kicked the double off of her, sending her into a wall.

Where even was she?

She took a quick look around, her stomach dropped, it was her old chambers in the underworld, where Marcy had been murdered.

"I'm not evil, I know that now, nor you or anybody else is going to tell me any different, I'm a good witch!" she shouted as she levitated into the air and then came crashing back down feet first onto her double's stomach, Phoebe stared her in the face while she whispered.

"I may not be evil but I'm no angel either" and sent her fist straight through the double's head, Phoebe stepped back, surprised, the double had just vanished into thin air like Cole had.

What remained on the floor was a golden wing, her part of Heaven's Gate.

Thank God she thought as she reached down to grab it. As soon as she touched it she was teleported back into the Manor living room.

"Phoebe!" Piper stood in shock from the sofa as her younger sister appeared.

Prue came running in from the kitchen.

"Well?" she asked eagerly.

Phoebe held up the wing, "Got it" she said happily.

"I knew you wouldn't let us down" Piper said as her and Prue enveloped Phoebe into a hug.

Phoebe smiled but wasn't quite sure what to say or do, they had the whole artefact now, but she also now knew that the three of them had a younger sister out there somewhere, Paige.

When would they find her? Was she even in San Francisco, California? If she was a witch perhaps she could be scryed for.

No, Phoebe thought, they had too much to deal with right now, her sisters didn't need another bombshell, she would keep this to herself until after they had beaten The Seer.

End of Chapter Nineteen, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty, "Paige Matthews".


	20. Paige Matthews

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty, "Paige Matthews".

Paige Matthews sat in her office at her workplace, South Bay Social Services. To say the last few weeks had been stressful was an understatement.

First she had been almost stabbed in the parking lot, then a mysterious man had shown up and told her she was a witch with magical powers, and then the main took her to see his wife who was also a witch, and a mean one at that. She had only been doing her job, checking out a woman who the hospital had reported about, how was she meant to know?  
Still, she was slowly getting her life back together, the police had arrested the crazy guy and she hadn't seen Leo or his wife in a couple of weeks. She was adopted, she knew that, so her magic couldn't have come from her adoptive parents, but from her birth parents.

She had tried to research them for many years, but always came up empty, she thought she might have even been related to the Halliwell sisters, which was why she took an interest in the Piper Halliwell case in the first place, but there was no way she could be related to that woman.

Come to think of it she had met all three Halliwell sisters before, Prue here at work months ago investigating the case of a little boy and Phoebe she had seen at the club a few times as well as just around town. Those two seemed nice at least.

She quickly put the thought out of her head, now was not the time to go nuts with crazy theories about her parentage.

"Hey there beautiful" a voice said from her office doorway.

Paige sighed and looked up, it was Donny.

"Funny, I thought I could hear my sleaze alarm going off" she said coldly.

"You know Paige, I could help you out around here if you ever needed anything, help with a case, a massage" he said quietly, running his hand up the doorway.

Why was no one else ever around to witness this? She asked herself.

"Yeah maybe you could help me with a case, there's this real dirt-bag who I work with who's about to have a big, fat sexual harassment case thrown at him, any thoughts?" she asked innocently.

Donny smirked and walked away.

"Hey Paige!" Mr Cowan's voice rang out.

"Oh God what now?" she asked the Gods above, she could tell that today, was not going to be a good one.

Mr Cowan appeared at her doorway. Eyebrows raised.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the church for 11?" he queried.

Paige must have just looked blank because he had prompt her even more.

"For the Tracy Morgan case?" he checked.

Paige smacked herself in the forehead.

"Oh my God I am such a moron" she said standing up and throwing a bunch of filed into her bag.

"See ya later boss" she said, smacking Mr Cowan on the shoulder on her way out.

"It looks really, really weird" Phoebe said, looking at the completed artefact, which was now sitting on the kitchen table.

"It's a ball with two wings, what's it supposed to look like?" Leo asked.

"I know, but the picture made it look way more impressive, this kind of looks like one of those crappy toys you get out of those chocolate eggs".

Leo puffed out his chest.

"Phoebe, this is an ancient whitelighter weapon, kept secret for millennia as a last resort to the problem of evil".

"We know sweetie, you've told us a thousand times" Piper giggled as she walked in.

Leo deflated a little and sunk down into a chair.

"Aww poor baby" Phoebe teased.

"You seem to be in a good mood" Leo noted of Phoebe.

Phoebe smiled.

"Yeah, these last few weeks, I don't know what it is exactly, I just feel so much lighter and freer".

"Freebe has returned!" Piper gasped in mock horror.

"You know I'm not going to let anything bother me, well, anything that isn't evil anyway" Phoebe said.

"Could this improved mood have something to do with seeing a certain half-demon?" Piper wondered.

"Maybe" Phoebe said, unsure.

The truth was though Phoebe had vowed not to say anything, she was happy that she'd seen Cole, but more than that she was thrilled to pieces that somewhere out there she had a baby sister, she wasn't the baby anymore!

She couldn't wait to meet her, to speak to her, to have a conversation that lasted hours, she wanted to know absolutely everything about her. But not right now, it was too risky and for all they knew this younger sister had no idea she was even a witch, or part witch at least, and part whitelighter, that was new. I guess Piper and Leo could get some pointers from her on what to expect when they had a baby of their own. That would be nice she thought, sipping her tea.

"Where's Prue?" Piper asked.

"Oh, she left early for a breakfast date" Phoebe replied.

"Again?" Piper asked in disbelief.

"That's the fourth time this week".

Phoebe nodded, "yep".

"I don't know what the heck Andy said to her but it definitely helped her move past her relationship troubles, at least for now" Phoebe said.

"Sister Agnes?" Paige asked the wizened nun as she entered the back office of St. Dominic's church, she felt strange being here, she was here for a case she was working on but this was the church that she had been given up for adoption.

She couldn't help herself, especially with all the revelations lately.

"Can I help you dear?" the nun asked.

"Yes, my name is Paige Matthews, I'm a social worker".

"Oh, you're here to talk about young Tracy?" she wondered.

Paige nodded.

"But also something else afterwards if that's ok" she queried.

"Of course, you can talk about anything here" Agnes replied.

A half hour later and the case of Tracy Morgan had all but been closed, she was a runaway that had escaped an abusive home and had been coming to the church for refuge, now she'd be taken into safety.

"You wanted to ask about something else dear?" The nun asked Paige.

Paige nodded, unsure where to start.

"I was given up by my birth parents, and they left me here on August 2nd, 1977, I was hoping you could give me any information you could think of about them?" she wondered.

Sister Agnes gasped.

"My dear, I was so hoping you'd come back here one day, I kept this for you" she said excitedly, standing and rummaging around in chest.

"Here" she said happily, handing Paige a small blue Blanket with the letter "P" embroidered onto it.

"Your parents, whoever they were, they were like angels, appearing here in a shining ray of blue light, it's the greatest day of my life, and I thank God for that experience everyday".

"But who were they?" Paige pushed.

"They didn't give their names, they just said that they loved you very much, but that it was too dangerous to keep you and that you'd be better off, safer, raised by someone else" Sister Agnes said, her eyes shining.

"They only asked that your name begin with a "P".

"Thank you sister Agnes, what you've said has helped me a great deal" Paige said, tears welling up.

Agnes took Paige's hand in her own.

"You come from angels my dear, whatever it is that's bothering you, I know you'll get through it".

"Thank you" Paige said, nodding gratefully.

It was time for her to go.

As she walked back to her car, her hand tight around her blanket, Paige thought deeply, they asked that her name start with a "P", like Prue, Piper and Phoebe. One or both of them could orb like her and Leo could, Leo who was married to Piper, whose club she was drawn too, she was just as equally drawn to the three sisters, she kept bumping into them, seeing them from afar, and now this revelation, none of this could be a coincidence.

She got in her car and drove all the way home to her apartment, work could wait until later.

"Leo!" she yelled as she walked through her front door.

"Hmm that's weird, my new charge is calling for me" Leo said, still sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hmph, you mean that weird girl that the book rejected?" Piper asked.

"She's not weird Piper, she just needs help" Leo said, orbing away.

Phoebe walked in from the laundry room, a basket of freshly washed clothes in her arms.

"Where'd Leo go?" she wondered.

"Oh, just to deal with his new charge, that girl who can orb, Paige or whatever her name is ".

Phoebe dropped the basket on the floor in shock.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"Finally, I've been waiting for like five whole minutes" Paige said as Leo orbed in.

"Well, I'm very busy Paige, I have other charges you know" spat back.

"Busy my ass" she murmured.

Leo sighed, "If you just called me here to insult me, then I'm just gonna go ok?"

"Wait, I'm sorry, I'm moody and panicky and I get mean when those two things happen at once" Paige explained.

"Ok, well let's start with that, why are you panicking?" Leo wondered.

"I went to the church where I was given up for adoption today, the nun there told me that my birth parents orbed in with me and told her to take me, that I would be safer away from them".

"Do you know who they were or what they looked like?" Leo asked.

Paige shook her head.

"Sister Agnes just said that the man was older looking, white hair, and the woman was young, beautiful, big brown eyes".

"That doesn't really narrow it down" Leo said apologetically.

"But she did give me this" Paige said, grabbing the baby blanket and handing it to Leo.

Leo froze, he recognised this blanket, he had been assigned to the Halliwell sisters from birth, watching them grow up and become witches, and he knew that when each sister had been born, they had been wrapped up tight in this exact blanket.

It wasn't possible was it?  
Leo flipped through the facts in his head, she could orb, she was younger than Phoebe, the book threw her off, and their mom had an affair with her whitelighter.

Leo looked up at Paige, he could see it, the resemblance to Patty and Sam, how could he have been so blind? This was why no one knew who she was, Patty had secretly been pregnant and had given the baby up to avoid detection, was he going crazy? He needed to know for sure before he said anything, but how? He couldn't go to The Elders, he didn't want to put Paige in danger. There was only one person he knew who could touch this blanket and give him the truth. Phoebe. The worst keeper of secrets he had ever met.

Phoebe paced up and down her bedroom, waiting for Leo, she had given him a suitable amount of time to speak to Paige before calling on him, now she was fidgeting and impatient, she couldn't wait to meet her.

He had just turned around when Leo orbed in front of her, almost knocking her off her feet.

"Dammit Leo, I'm pacing here!" she barked jokingly.

"Phoebe, is there something you want to tell me?" he asked accusingly.

"No, why? What exactly would I have to tell?" she asked guiltily.

She knew it futile.

"Ok fine, I know I'm bad with secrets".

"What's she like?" she asked eagerly.

"I can't say yet, definitely stubborn, so the four of you have that in common at least" Leo said, sighing as he sat on the edge of Phoebe's bed.

"How long have you known?" he wondered.

"A couple weeks, when I went on my quest I had a vision of her".

"I see, and you were planning on telling your sisters when?" he asked.

"Not until after we had beaten The Seer, I know how it sounds Leo but I didn't want to distract them with this when were so close" she explained.

Leo nodded.

"Makes sense I suppose".

Phoebe felt relief flood through her.

"So you won't tell?" she queried.

"No, I'm Paige's whitelighter too now, which means I won't tell anyone until she wants you to know" Leo clarified.

"So, wait, she knows?" Phoebe asked in disbelief.

"She suspects, especially after she went to the nun who oversaw her adoption and was given this" Leo said producing the baby blanket.

"Whoa" Phoebe said in awe.

"Yep".

"But she doesn't know about our powers does she?"

"Well she knows Piper is a witch" Leo said.

"Oh God, I'd forgotten, her and Piper have already met properly" Phoebe said in a hushed whisper.

"Why are you whispering?" Leo asked.

"If you grew up with two sisters you'd know to keep a low voice when speaking of secrets as well" Phoebe said, giggling.

"What did you see in your vision exactly, assuming you haven't omitted details from your others, I didn't even know you'd had three visions up there" he said, sounding slightly put out.

"Well I couldn't tell any of you I'd had a third vision or you would have found out!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"I saw her being born, mom, Sam and Grams were there, guess we have more secrets in this family than I thought" she said bitterly.

"Anyways, I should get back to Paige, but what should I tell her?" Leo wondered.

"Tell her the truth, that we are her sisters but we can't meet until after the threat has passed, more for her safety than ours, if The Seer found out about her she'd use Paige against us, I know it" Phoebe said.

Leo nodded, shot her a reassuring smiled and orbed out.

Piper sat in the conservatory on the phone with Prue, catching her up on the day she'd had so far.

"He did what?" she asked her older sister.

"Yep, he asked if I wanted to meet his parents" Prue said disbelievingly.

"What did you say?" Piper wondered.

"Well, I said yes, I didn't really know what else I could say" Prue said, unsure.

"Well you like him right?" Piper checked.

"Yeah, I like him a lot, he's probably the first guy I've liked this much since Andy".

"Where are you now anyway, almost home?" Piper asked.

"Haha, that would be a no, I'm stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge in the traffic jam from hell, no idea why it's so crowded at this time of day" Prue said, annoyed.

Piper heard Prue gasp, the line went dead.

"Prue?" she asked, suspicious.

"Are you there?"

"Prue!" Piper began to yell down the receiver.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked, walking into the conservatory, a worried expression on her face.

"I was just on the phone with Prue but it went dead and now she won't pick up" Piper said quickly.

"Calm down Piper, there's probably a reasonable explanation, she probably hasn't got any service or maybe she's out of range?" Phoebe wondered.

As Phoebe stopped talking the Earth began to shake.

"What is going on?" Phoebe yelled over the chaos.

"No idea!" Piper shouted back.

Ornaments crashed to the floor, shattering along with the glass windows and doors around the manor.

Piper struggled to the front door and looked outside, it wasn't just them, it was everywhere, Phoebe popped up behind her, holding onto Piper's arm to stay balanced.

"Look! Over there!" Phoebe pointed.

Piper looked up to where Phoebe was pointing. A large, ominous portal appeared in the middle of the sky, and beings were flying out from within.

Piper gasped, "What the hell are those things?"

"Demons, hell-beasts, the whole lot, it's The Seer, it has to be" Phoebe replied.

"But your vision told us it wouldn't be for another couple weeks at least!" Piper barked.

"She must have accelerated her plans, come on!" Phoebe yelled, grabbing her and Piper's jackets and pulling her sister out of the front door.

"Are you crazy?" Piper asked.

"You wanna go out there, into the chaos?"

"If we don't then who will Piper?"

"We're the only ones that can stop her, besides, we have our sisters….I mean our family out there who are counting on us" Phoebe said, embarrassed at her slip-up, though Piper didn't seem to notice.

"Oh my God Phoebe, your vision was on the bridge wasn't it? And that portal is open right over it".

"Yeah and?" Phoebe wondered, waiting for an answer.

Piper's blood ran cold, "that's where Prue was".

Prue's car lay abandoned on the Golden Gate Bridge, her phone smashed to pieces on the road, no one who had been on the bridge was anywhere to be seen, they were gone, vanished into thin air by an unknown entity.

The Seer marched to the end of the bridge, where her demon commanders were waiting, here it is, that feeling, what she had been working towards, she was on the precipice of world domination, and it all started here, in San Francisco. She could have gone anywhere in the world to begin her attack, but she knew if she didn't get rid of those Charmed Ones first then there'd be no point in going anywhere else.

"You know where they live Zankou, now find them, and bring me their heads".

"Yes, my liege" Zankou replied, disappearing in a wave of hazy flame.

The Seer raised her head proudly and said one simple word.

"Attack".

End of Chapter Twenty, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-One, "Hell Has Broken Loose".


	21. Hell Has Broken Loose

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-One, "Hell Has Broken Loose"

"The citizens of San Francisco are still under quarantine according to the president" a news reporter said on TV.

It then flashed to a speech from the president, who looked stressed, "I can assure the American people that I am doing everything in my power, sadly right now, that isn't very much".

Phoebe snorted as the news report finished, she looked around the street she was on, it was desolate, abandoned, one of many, though this store still looked fairly intact she noted.

It had been one week since The Seer had waged her war on humanity, countless people had lost their lives, the city was overrun with demons and all kinds of other nasty beings were roaming the streets, infesting the city like bugs.

She picked up the bag of food she had managed to cobble together and walked quickly down the darkening street, she gasped and darted to her right, narrowly avoiding hellfire from the sky, it had been raining down from the open portal above for about a day now, amazing how quickly you get used to things she thought.

She tried to stay undercover as she made her way back to the abandoned motel her and Piper had been staying at, still no sign of Prue.

Phoebe still hadn't mentioned the existence of Paige to her sister, Piper was worried enough, instead she had made Leo promise to stick with Paige to keep her safe, her and Piper could handle themselves.

"I should be out there" Paige mumbled to herself as she stared out the window, it was like a scene from the Bible, fire raining down from the sky, people running scared, she was a witch, she should be helping.

Leo paced up and down the kitchen, "you can't go out there" he said, exasperated, he must have said the same thing over a hundred times for the past few days.

"It's not safe" he pressed.

"That's exactly why I should be out there" Paige snarled.

Leo whipped around, his anger flaring.

"Don't you think I wanna be out there too Paige? My wife is out there! Your sisters are out there and I'm stuck babysitting you!" he growled.

Paige flinched.

Leo hung his head.

"I'm sorry Paige, I'm really worried about your sisters, and I still can't sense Prue".

"But Piper and Phoebe are ok?" she asked.

Leo nodded, "for now".

Paige had developed an irrational attachment to her sisters this past week, from what Leo said Phoebe was the only one who knew who she was, and that she wanted to keep her safe until after this blew over. She understood it, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Ok thanks Darryl, please let us know if you hear anything" Piper said, hanging up the phone.

The door slammed behind her.

"Phoebe thank God, are you ok?"

Phoebe shrugged, "I think I got a singed hair from the lovely heated rain but that's it".

Piper smiled, you could always count on Phoebe to lighten the mood somewhat, which was just what she needed. According to Leo he could sense that Prue was alive, though he couldn't sense where, but the former was all that mattered, all they had to do was find her.

"Darryl hear anything?" Phoebe asked.

"No, everyone on that bridge is still missing" Piper sighed.

She looked around the moth eaten motel room her and Phoebe were staying in, they couldn't just sit at home, they'd be sitting ducks, so they'd done their best over the past week to find somewhere inconspicuous and to try to use as little magic as possible, not easy when you have innocents to defend.

This was in fact, their sixth hiding place this week, they didn't want to stay more than one night in each place, just in case.

"I just had the TV on" Piper said, trying to make conversation.

"The Seer has set up base at city hall".

"Damn, and that was such a nice building too" Phoebe said.

The Seer walked around the building, this "city hall". Humans had such a strange taste for architecture, though she didn't disagree with their views on leadership, one leader to unite them all, and that would be her.

"Zankou, any sign?" she checked with her Lieutenant.

"Not yet my liege, The Charmed Ones appear to have cast some kind of protection spell over their home, preventing anyone from gaining entry".

"It won't last long I know that, only two of them cast it, so they didn't even use the power of three".

"You know where the missing sister is?" he wondered.

The Seer nodded and pointed to her forehead, "You forget, I see everything".

Titus snorted to her left.

"Something to say Titus?" she asked, her voice a deadly calm.

"Just that, I mean, you can't see the other two sisters right now can you?"

The Seer glared at him, "that is true, but only because their whitelighter has cloaked them, that magic will wear off soon".

"How do you know dare I ask?" Zankou asked.

"Because there isn't any magic cloaking him" The Seer purred.

Footsteps in the sand pointed in the direction of Prue Halliwell, she stumbled down a path, her leg hurt from falling down a small hill yesterday, or was it the day before? This morning? She had no clue.

She had been on the phone talking with Piper when that hole ripped open in the sky and sucked her through, she had no idea where she even was, the underworld?

That was her best theory right now, heck, it was her only theory.

She took a look around, just one big desert by the looks of things, grey sand, red sky, the odd cliff or mountain in the distance, she heard screams every now and then, but she couldn't tell which direction they were coming from, it was strange, she felt tired but since she'd been here she hadn't felt hungry or thirsty, maybe this was hell.

She shook herself loose and carried on, "get a grip Prue" she whispered to herself as she walked slowly up a steep hill, trying to gain a vantage point to see what was beyond, if there was in fact anything beyond at all.

As she made her way carefully up something burst from the ground in front of her, it looked like some sort of pink snake, or if she looked closely, a tongue. She waved her arm at it but it had little to know effect. The tongue struck and wrapped itself around her ankle.

Prue screamed as it tried to suck her down into the sand, she tried to grab anything she could to get some leverage above ground but it was no use, it was just dirt and grit, nothing to hold onto.

"Need some help?" a voice said as a hand clasped her and pulled her back out towards the light.

"Cole?!" she gasped in disbelief.

Cole had one hand in Prue's and raised the other, launching a massive energy ball at the tongue, it burst in flames and sunk to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

Cole helped Prue up but she pushed him away.

"Whoa, easy now, I did just save your life" he said smugly.

"God what is this? Community service?" Prue asked sarcastically.

"Help one sister you get your sentence reduced, help another and get off scot free?"

"Very funny, you always were the mean one" Cole said quietly.

"Mean?" Prue asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, I'm so mean, thinking my baby sister would be better off without a demon for a boyfriend" she snarled.

"You know what? Forget I came here at all! The Elders sent me here to rescue you because the world is dying, your sisters are in trouble and The Seer is winning!" he bellowed.

Prue sank back, gathered her bearings, "I'm sorry Cole" she said quietly.

Cole smiled, "well now that it's all sorted and we're back to being best friends, let's get out of here".

"Where even are we?" Prue wondered, eager for some answers.

"The demonic wasteland, where all evil beings go when they're vanquished, that thing I just killed is our executioner so to speak".

"I don't get it, why did that portal lead me here?" Prue asked, confused.

"This is where The Seer was keeping her evil army, away from prying eyes, away from detection, and you'll be happy to know the portal is still open, so we can get you back through it" Cole said confidently.

The next morning Phoebe awoke, the same thing had happened for over a week now, she'd be half awake in bed, and everything would be ok, no problems, no troubles, and then she jolted upright, peering across the room, good she thought, Piper was still safe.

She got up quietly and headed to the bathroom, thank God they'd picked a place with a shower this time, after getting washed and dressed she headed back into the main room where Piper was still sleeping, what was she holding?  
Phoebe approached silently and took a closer look, she smiled, Piper was snuggled up with one of Leo's flannel shirts, her security blanket.

Phoebe gasped as she was sucked into a premonition, she didn't recognise her surroundings, two people were on the floor of what looked like an apartment floor, Phoebe felt a chill as she recognised the two, Leo was on the floor, dead, Paige sitting over him crying, the vision ended and she staggered back, no, she couldn't let this happen, not to Leo, not to Paige, she quickly scribbled a note for Piper and hurried out the motel to save her brother in law.

"Want some coffee?" Paige asked Leo, yawning.

"Sure, not like I can sleep anyway" he replied.

"Have you heard anything?" she wondered, feeling like a broken record at this point.

Leo was patient.

"No, not yet, but I can still sense them, they're ok, for now".

Paige smiled, relief flooding through her momentarily before a loud bang shot her front door off it's hinges and into the kitchen.

"Paige get behind me!" Leo yelled.

But it was too late, an energy ball sailed through the air towards her.

She gasped and orbed out of danger, the ball hitting the window behind her, smashing it to pieces.

"Who are you?" Leo demanded.

"I am Zankou" the figure replied, stalking into the room.

"And I will kill you".

A haze of black smoke appeared in Zankou's hands, forming a shape, Leo felt his blood run cold as he realised it had taken the form of a darklighters crossbow.

"With you out the way, The Charmed Ones will finally be vulnerable".

Before he could fire the arrow Zankou was knocked off his feet, sent flying back through the open doorway.

Leo looked around, Phoebe had come flying in through the smashed window, using all her force to kick Zankou back out.

"Phoebe what are you doing here?!" Leo asked angrily.

"It's not safe".

"I had a vision, like hell we're losing you too" she said.

"Where's Paige?" she wondered.

"She orbed out of danger, I don't know where" he answered.

"Did you say Phoebe?" Zankou asked.

"That means one of The Charmed Ones is here" Zankou said triumphantly.

"At last".

"Leo, go, find Paige and orb to safety, he still can't see me, I can deal with this" Phoebe said.

"I can't just leave you" he said, worry tinging his voice.

"Leo now go!" Phoebe yelled as she tackled Zankou to the ground, kicking the crossbow out of his hands and down the stairs.

At that moment the worst possible thing that could have happened, happened.

Paige orbed back in from her escape, right in front of Zankou.

Her eyes widened in joy, "Phoebe!" she yelled.

"Paige watch out!" Phoebe shrieked.

But she wasn't fast enough, Zankou grabbed her from behind, lifting her into the air by her neck with a single hand.

"Oh my God" Phoebe said, panicking.

Paige was choking.

"If you want to save your whitelighter friend here, I suggest you become un-cloaked" Zankou sneered.

Leo came rushing out behind Phoebe.

"I won't put you and Piper in danger" he whispered.

"Leo please, you can't let him do this, take the cloaking magic away, we can handle it" Phoebe said desperately.

Leo nodded and flicked his wrist.

Zankou looked on in interest as Phoebe slowly materialised in front of him.

"Happy now?" she asked.

"Now please, let her go".

"How can I be sure you won't just put the magic back on once I've freed her?" Zankou asked.

"You have my word" Phoebe said quietly.

Zankou spat, "as if that means anything, The Source locked me away years ago because he gave me his word, and then betrayed me".

"Well he was evil, and I'm not" Phoebe said.

"That's not what I've heard" he smiled.

"I've heard you have quite the dark side" he teased.

"If you kill her you will see my dark side" Phoebe hissed.

Paige kicked Zankou where it hurt most and scrambled to get to Phoebe once he dropped her.

"Come on sweetie, go with Leo, he can cloak you" she said, giving Paige a quick hug.

"I can't just leave you, I want to help" Paige said.

"I know, but honestly the best way you can help right now is to go with Leo so I don't have to worry about you, ok?

Paige nodded and took Leo's hand, "good luck, and tell Piper I love her" he said as he and Paige orbed away.

"Guess we have the place to ourselves" Zankou said, having recovered from his trauma.

"I guess so" Phoebe said.

She didn't waste a second, she charged at him, launching herself into the air and kicking him in the face, sending him reeling, "this is for my brother in law" she said, throwing him over the side of the stairs, sending him plunging down five flights of stairs.

"That oughta keep him busy" Phoebe said to herself.

She ran back into Paige's apartment and levitated back through the open window, down onto the street.

She ran as fast as she could, the hellfire rain had finally stopped for now, she took a left down an alley and continued running, suddenly she could sense a presence behind her, she turned and then threw herself on the ground just as a fire ball narrowly missed her, hitting a skip just in front.

"You can't get away from me" Zankou shouted, walking down the alley.

He stood above Phoebe, "go ahead, do it, my sisters will hunt you down" she sneered.

"Oh Phoebe, maybe I haven't made myself clear, I don't want to harm you, I want to work with you".

Piper awoke with a start, shaking her head free of any fuzziness, where was Phoebe?

She got out of bed and looked around, before finding the note she had left, saying she'd gone out to get more food.

"Dammit Phoebe it was my turn" she muttered.

Piper walked into the very small bathroom and took off the lid to the toilet tank, she let loose a sigh of relief, this was where they'd hidden the Heaven's Gate, Piper checked on it wherever they were about fifty times a day, it drove Phoebe nuts but Piper had to know it was where they'd put it, she was one of those people who had to always know what the time was and this was a similar thing, though on a much grander scale of course.

Enough was enough she thought as she put the lid back on.

She stormed out of the bathroom and pulled out the bags her and Phoebe had packed a week ago, she unzipped one of them and pulled something out, the future book of shadows.

"Let's see what you've got inside" she muttered, opening it to the first page.

"You know Prue, I know you never liked me very much" Cole said knowingly.

"Gee, what gave it away?" she replied sarcastically.

"I just mean that, I thought we always made a pretty good team you and I, like when we teamed up for the Wild West time loop".

"Oh you mean that time you killed all those cowboys while I saved Phoebe from being shot?" she asked, the sarcastic tone now permanently etched on her speech.

"Hmph, that's the kind of attitude I mean, always so negative" he said, faux disbelief in his tone of voice.

"Just tell me if we're almost there yet" she said.

"Almost".

"Thank God, I'd forgotten how much you liked to talk".

Cole chuckled.

"We may not have gotten along, but I always admired you, strong willed, intelligent, you knew right from the start that I was a demon didn't you?" he wondered.

"Did the electrical crystal cage give it away?" she asked, smiling at the memory.

"Yeah that stung like a bitch" he said, touching his neck tenderly, remembering the pain.

"But my point, is, death has made me less antagonistic, so while we're alone, I thought I'd give you a compliment".

Prue thought for a moment before Cole interjected, "anything nice to say about me?" he asked.

"Hmm, well me and Phoebe were talking one time as girls do and the topic of man-hood came up, and she was very complimentary" Prue teased.

Cole blushed, "I'm not speaking to you anymore".

"Oh come on I was only kidding, about the chat I mean, it didn't happen, I just can't resist taunting you" Prue said, sticking her tongue out at him.

A short while later the duo came to the top of a large cliff and peered down, a swirling hole was in the centre, it was huge, like a giant whirlpool, Prue could just about make out parts of blue sky beneath it.

"There's your ticket home" Cole said merrily.

"Say hi to the family for me".

"Wait, but how do I get down there?" Prue asked.

"Like this" Cole said as he moved a couple of paces back and pushed Prue over the edge.

"I'm so gonna vanquish you!" he heard her yell up from below.

"I've been dying to do that since I first met you!" he shouted back.

Cole laughed softly to himself and walked back the way he'd came, back to serve his sentence in the pits of hell.

"Phoebe! Where have you been?" Piper demanded as her younger sister walked into the motel room.

"I got a little side-tracked" she said, before stepping to the left, revealing Zankou.

"Hi" Zankou said, looking Piper up and down.

"Oh my God a demon!" Piper yelled, throwing up her hands and exploding Zankou to pieces, his particles swirled around the air before reforming into himself.

"Well that was bracing" he said cheerily.

"I'm Zankou, and you're Piper?" he asked.

"Phoebe are you nuts?!" Piper shrieked.

"Why would you bring a demon here?"

"Calm down Piper, he wants to help us, I can sense it" Phoebe replied.

Phoebe's face went pale, "Piper, tell me that isn't the future book of shadows open on your bed?"

"Oh, well, yeah, it is actually" she mumbled in reply.

Now it was Phoebe's turn to yell, "are you crazy!?"

"No I'm not, I just think we should have a heads up on what's to come is all" Piper said stoically.

"Well, is there anything in there?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"Could you wait outside please?" Piper asked the demon.

"We don't have time for this, if we're going to work together we need to share information, and eye for an eye" he said, shrugging.

Piper looked to Phoebe, who nodded.

Piper rolled her eyes, "fine" she said quickly.

"Most of it is actually the same, there are a few demons or cronies we haven't faced yet that are in here, some newer spells, but it seems like our future selves neglected the book after some time" Piper explained.

"I guess they didn't have much time to fill it in what with being on the run all the time" Phoebe said.

"There was this though" Piper said, pointing to a particular page.

Phoebe read the title, "To activate the Heaven's Gate".

"Wait, it needs a spell?" Phoebe asked.

"I just figured we threw it at The Seer and it sucked her away or something" she said.

"It gets worse, the incantation is in whitelighter" Piper confirmed bitterly.

"Oh no, not that clickety-click nonsense?" Phoebe wondered, dread filling her voice.

Piper nodded, "afraid so".

"Great" Phoebe sighed, sitting on the bed.

"But why did our future selves have this spell and we don't?" she asked.

"Remember what Chris said? Our future selves had everything but the gate itself, they didn't discover it in time for whatever reason" Piper said.

"But we need Prue back and soon, it's a power of three spell" she continued.

"Finally, something I know that you don't" Zankou piper up.

"You know where she is?" Piper wondered.

Zankou pointed up, "sucked into hell, so to speak".

"Into the open portal?" Phoebe queried.

Zankou nodded.

"Why do you want to help us anyway?" Piper asked curiously.

"What do you get out of it?"

"Revenge" he said simply.

"Centuries ago The Source sealed me away in his dungeon, for fear I was growing too powerful and could pose a threat. The Seer freed me, believing me to be a powerful ally".

"And you're not?" Phoebe asked.

"He may be dead but the essence that empowered him lives on in The Seer, I won't rest until she's been crushed" Zankou said fiercely.

"Well that settles that then" Piper said.

"How do we get Prue back?" she asked.

"According to The Seer, right around now".

Prue felt dizzy as she fell through the portal back to the human plane, her eyes grew wide as the ground got closer and closer.

She shut her eyes and concentrated, astral projecting ahead to the ground, once there her astral self slowly guided down her body with telekinesis, resting her on the ground.

"Home sweet home" she murmured.

"Sweet?" a piercing voice said behind her.

Prue whirled around, standing not five feet away was The Seer, and a hoard of demons.

"Not anymore" she finished, that evil smile cruelly painting her features.

"Surrender yourself to me, or face the consequences" she said simply.

"Go back to hell where you came from you bitch" Prue snarled.

"Have it your way then" she growled.

"Bring him!" she ordered.

Prue felt her blood run cold as the demons bought Darryl forward, limp in their arms.

He woke up and spotted Prue.

"Prue! Get outta here! Go!" he begged.

"I won't leave you!" she yelled, running forward.

"Too late" The Seer spat.

Prue looked on in horror as The Seer plunged an athame into the back of Darryl's neck, killing him instantly.

"No" Prue said quietly, sinking to her knees, unable to process what she'd just seen.

"Next?" The Seer asked innocently.

End of Chapter Twenty-One, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-Two, "The Test of Man".


	22. The Power of Three

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-Two, "The Power of Three" – Season 4 Finale

Prue was numb, she had no words, how much more could she take?

The Seer laughed as her and her cronies disappeared in a huge tsunami of flame, back to wherever they came from.

Prue knew she was vulnerable, The Seer could walk up to her right now and finish her off, she wished she had, but The Seer was cruel, she wanted her to suffer before delivering the final blow.

Prue crawled her way over to the body of her friend, she pulled his head into her lap and sobbed, "I'm so sorry" she said, her voice full of sorrow. Darryl deserved more than this, he was her rock, her constant, he had been there for her when Andy had died, the least she could do was sit there with him while he moved onto the next life.

"She'll pay for this" Prue said bitterly, gritting her teeth, wishing eternal pain on The Seer with every rage coated word.

She laid his head down gently, "Leo", she said quietly.

It wasn't long before Leo orbed into the spot right in front of her.

"Prue thank God!" he yelled, happy to see her, happy that is, until he saw who she was sitting next too.

"Oh God" he whispered kneeling down beside her, trying his best to heal Darryl's wounds, but it was too late, he had died the moment the athame had plunged into him.

"Dammit" Leo said, his eyes shining.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"I'll explain later, please tell me my sisters are alive Leo" Prue said calmly.

Leo looked up behind him, which was when Prue noticed another person was there with him, it was that girl, his new charge.

"Why is she with you?" Prue wondered.

"Phoebe asked me to protect her" Leo said, before realising Prue didn't know about Paige yet.

Prue raised her eyebrow in confusion, "but why?" she asked.

"Um, uh…." Leo was stumped.

"Because me and her are good friends is all" Paige said quickly.

She came over to sit next to Prue.

"I'm so sorry for your loss" she said, putting her hand on top of Prue's.

It felt warm, comforting, this girl did indeed have the magic touch.

"Thanks" Prue managed to get out begrudgingly.

"Can you take me to them Leo?" Prue asked desperately.

"Will you be ok to wait here Paige while I take Prue back to her sisters?" Leo asked, unsure whether or not to go.

But she nodded, "of course, take all the time you need".

Leo held Prue's arm, limp from exhaustion and orbed away, leaving Paige by herself.

Paige walked to the edge of the bridge, the water was so beautiful, she'd always admired it, it felt magical to her, ironic that she thought that after finding true magic, though all things had magic in from what she'd read.

She couldn't wait to learn more about being a witch, sadly she hadn't had much time for that yet, but if she got through this, she'd make it a priority.

"Someone help!" Paige heard someone call.

She looked around wildly, not seeing anyone in any danger, where was it coming from?

She looked further up the bridge, she saw a woman running towards her, she was being chased by some kind of hell-beast, it was mangy, had weird bald spots, if it weren't for the fact that it was mid-day she'd have assumed it was a werewolf.

She looked around, she should call for Leo, but she didn't want to disturb her sisters, she stopped for a second, her sisters? That would take some getting used too.

She made a snap decision, and ran towards the woman.

"Prue thank God!" Piper squealed as she ran off the bed to smother her sister in a hug.

"What the heck happened?" She asked.

"I was in the demonic wasteland, Cole guided me out" Prue answered tearfully.

"Those don't look like tears of joy" Phoebe said, worry etched on her face.

Prue sat on the floor.

"When I got back The Seer was waiting for me, and she had Darryl, and she killed him" Prue managed to spit out between sobs.

Silence clouded the room, no-one was able to say a word, all you could hear from the outside was crying, and exclamations of rage.

Paige grabbed a stray athame off the ground as she ran towards the woman, yelling like a crazed Amazonian warrior, she orbed through the woman and onto the beast, plunging the weapon down into its chest, it shuddered for a second before dying.

Paige stood and turned to look at the woman, "how did you do that?" she asked.

"Don't worry" Paige said, sinking to the floor.

"I won't hurt you, you've seen some evil things this past week haven't you?" she asked the woman who nodded.

"Well, as with all things, if there is an evil side, there's a good side too" Paige said, her hand on the woman's leg, providing her comfort.

"Are you an angel?" she asked.

Paige resisted the urge to smirk.

"Something like that" she said, leading the woman off the bridge to find somewhere safe.

"Huh, that's weird" Leo said suddenly.

"What is it?" Piper wondered, wiping away tears as she stood.

"The Elders just told me to switch the TV on".

The sisters looked at each other, confusion clear on their faces.

"Do it" Phoebe said.

Leo bent down and switched the television set on, not sure of what to expect.

The quartet gasped as The Seer's face appeared on the news. She was stood at a podium, outside city hall, her demons behind her, she was giving a speech.

"To my loyal citizens" she began.

Phoebe snorted.

"I have come here today to tell you that the suffering will end, but it is all up to you, I only want one thing, or three" she smirked.

"I want the Halliwell sisters, the ones who live on Prescott Street".

Piper gasped.

"They're evil witches, and they have something of mine, something that will turn the world to ruin. Prue, Piper and Phoebe, if you see them, all you need to do is merely think of me intently and I'll sense your location, and then I will save you from these devils".

The speech ended and the channel that was broadcasting went dead with static, the broadcast over.

"Now what the hell do we do?" Piper asked in disbelief.

Zankou met The Seer's gaze as she strode back into city hall with her security, how times have changed he thought, "It went well I take it?" he asked.

She smirked, "yes it did, give the order Zankou, return all of my demons to the wasteland, we want the humans to track down the sisters, and they won't do that if they're too scared to leave their shelters".

Zankou nodded, "of course my liege, I do often wonder how you come up with such genius ideas" he said softly, his voice as saccharine as he could manage.

"Now Zankou, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get on my good side" she teased.

Zankou smiled, "as if you have one".

The Seer cackled as she walked towards her back office.

Phoebe sprung up, "in all the mayhem we forgot to ask!" she yelled, grabbing the future book of shadows.

"Can you read this Leo?" she asked tentatively.

He took a look at the passage and nodded, "perfectly, is this what I think it is?" he asked.

"What is it?" Prue wondered.

"We found the incantation to activate Heaven's Gate in the future book, but it's in whitelighter speak, we can't read it" Piper explained.

"Could you translate it for us?" Prue asked.

Leo nodded, "should be able to yeah, it's not a particularly difficult passage".

"Great, let's get on that" Phoebe said, pulling Leo into the kitchen with the book.

She pulled him in close once out of eye sight and whispered to him, "is Paige alright?"

"Fine last time I checked, and I can sense her right now and she seems ok" Leo replied.

Phoebe let out a sigh, "Ok let's get this spell translated".

"I almost forgot to ask, is dad safe?" Prue asked Piper in the bedroom.

She nodded almost immediately, "yeah, I had Leo orb him to England with Will as soon as this whole mess began".

"Wait, hold on, don't tell me they're staying together" Prue said disbelievingly.

"Yeah I think so, I spoke to dad just a couple days ago and he said they were getting on fine" Piper said.

"Oh God, last time dad met one of our boyfriends he tried to go all hulk on him" Prue said, horrified.

"Calm down, that was only because Leo was a whitelighter, and Will's just a witch" Piper said confidently.

"Because he'll find that so much better" Prue sighed.

Paige led the woman to an abandoned store for some shelter and left, not wanting to stick around for a Q and A session.

As she walked out the store she saw a group of what looked like humans huddled around a different store with a bunch of TV's in the window, playing a news segment.

It was The Seer.

Paige moved behind the group and stood horrified at what was being said, turn in her new sisters? Who does this woman think she is?

"Let's find them" a gruff old man said.

"Yeah, I want my city back" a younger woman said.

Paige couldn't believe her ears.

"Are you people nuts?" she asked in disbelief.

They all turned to look at her.

"Nuts? Lady what are you on?" the man said.

"Yeah, all we have to do is give The Seer these three women and we'll be safe" the woman clarified.

"I can't tell if you're misinformed or just plain stupid" Paige whispered in rage.

"The Seer destroys half the city, lets loose demons and murders thousands of people and you want to help her?!" she shouted.

"Look around" Paige pointed to the sky.

"There is literally a giant hell portal in the sky raining all kinds of evil down on us, and you think that what you're planning to do is ok?"

"What choice do we have?" the woman spat.

"You can choose to not be a giant moron and help the sisters take back the city!" Paige all but yelled.

"They're good, all three of them and they want to help us, and they can do it too, but they need our help".

"It's been two days, why haven't the humans surrendered them to me yet?" The Seer demanded.

"I'm not sure my liege, it is bizarre" Titus stammered.

"Zankou?" she asked him, ignoring Titus completely.

"It seems that a couple of whitelighters have been going around the city, defending the names of the sisters, keeping them on side, rallying them" he said.

"Unacceptable" she snarled.

"I'll just have to show them I mean what I say, Titus, unleash the portal" she said, smirking.

Zankou looked around nervously, unsure of what to expect.

But then he heard it.

And then he saw it.

"What the heck is that?" Piper yelled as she awoke with a start.

She ran to the motel door and threw it open, her blood ran cold.

The city was half demolished, on fire, the portal in the sky was unleashing some kind of super-powered energy blast, spouting out in all directions, reducing San Francisco to cinders.

"Oh God" Prue said, coming up behind Piper.

"We have to help" Phoebe said from behind, pulling on her jacket.

"How are we supposed to compete with that?" Piper asked.

"Maybe we can't, but we can help all those people" Phoebe said urgently.

Prue nodded in agreement, "The Seer wants those people to think we're evil, let's prove them otherwise".

"For God's sake" Piper sighed, rolling her eyes as she threw on her shoes.

"Besides Leo is down there" Phoebe said suddenly.

"And I'm sure he could use some help".

Prue and her sisters ran from their motel as quickly as they could, Prue took the lead, checking behind her to make sure her sisters hadn't been hit by any of the destruction.

"Prue look out!" Piper yelled behind her.

Prue quickly turned her head, a massive radiant blast of energy was headed straight for her, she lifted both her arms and used all the telekinetic force she could muster to send the blast flying straight back into the portal, it clashed with the blast coming out and seemed to cause a huge explosion within the wasteland, stopping the attack.

Prue smirked, hopefully that would keep them busy for a while.

"Come on!" she yelled back at her siblings, the three of them avoiding tumbling buildings and making their way over to the town, where it seemed like most of the destruction was.

"We need help Leo" Paige said, concentrating really hard and orbing a piece of wood off an unconscious man in a ruined building. They had taken shelter here as soon as the attack had started, luckily this building had remained fairly intact.

Paige looked around, she and Leo had managed to gather dozens of people to their cause, the Charmed cause. It helped that they had bumped into an old innocent of theirs, a young girl named Aviva. Leo vouched for her as well. That was good enough for Paige.

"Anything I can do?" Aviva wondered.

"It's ok sweetie, we got the last guy out a second ago" Paige reassured her.

Aviva sighed, "You know I used to have powers?"

"You did?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, the power of heat, but it was taken from me, I'm glad they took them away but right now they could be pretty helpful".

"Don't worry, they're coming to help, I know it" Paige said confidently.

Aviva nodded, "I know they won't let us down, I can't wait to see them again, they helped me build a new life for myself" she said.

"Leo!" a voice called from outside.

"Piper?" Leo answered.

The door swung open and the sisters came inside, covered in dirt and dust.

"Thank God we finally found you" Piper said, relieved.

"Are you ok?" Phoebe asked Paige.

"Yeah I'm fine, but this girl has been dying to see you guys again" Paige nudged Aviva in the shoulder.

"Aviva?" Prue wondered.

Aviva nodded and smiled, "it's so great to see you guys again".

"How have you been?" Phoebe asked kindly.

"Well, the world is falling apart, so it could have been better I guess" Aviva said, laughing.

The sisters joined in.

"So this is who The Seer was talking about?" the annoying woman from before that Paige had been told was called Laura.

"Yes Laura, it's them" Paige said, exasperated.

"Hmph" Laura snorted and stalked off to help someone.

Piper eyed her up, "What the heck is her problem?"

"And what are all these people doing here in one place?"

"They're here because they believe in the cause, your cause" Leo explained.

"What cause?" Phoebe asked.

"To defeat The Seer and take back the city" Paige answered for him.

Phoebe smiled at her.

"That's sweet honey but we can't put innocents in danger like that" she explained.

"Well no offense but how many innocents have died since this whole thing started, thousands? They just want a chance to get their homes back is all" Paige said.

The Sisters contemplated what Paige had said. They looked at each other and nodded.

"We could use all the help we can get" Prue said, nodding at Paige.

Paige smiled and went to rally the others.

"I hope this works out" Piper said quietly.

"We have to put our trust in them, like they've done with us" Phoebe said.

The group stepped back as a fiery figure materialized in the middle of them, it was Zankou.

"A demon!" Someone yelled.

"It's fine, it's just Zankou" Piper explained.

"Don't worry, I don't bite" he said cheerily.

"This is Zankou?" Prue asked.

"Aaah nice to see you back" he said.

"Thanks for the warning on the whole death beam from the sky" Phoebe said sarcastically.

"Well to be honest, I didn't actually know about that, The Seer keeps everything to herself".

"Hmph" Piper groaned.

"Anyway, I came to tell you all that if you plan on doing anything, it had better be soon, she's sent the majority of her demons back to the wasteland whilst she has the humans search for you".

"I'll send you a signal when the time is ripe" he said, smirking before flaming out.

"That guy gives me the creeps" Piper said.

"Maybe, but he's on our side, I can feel it" Phoebe said.

"Good enough for me Phoebs" Prue said, giving her younger sibling a wink.

Phoebe felt warm, it had taken her a long time to earn Prue's trust. It was great to finally be at that level with her again.

"Uh, I think he's sending us the signal" Paige piped up from behind them.

She led them all outside and pointed at the sky, there just above the bridge was a huge, blazing triquetra, slowly fading away into the air.

"Nice touch" Prue said, impressed.

"Well he could have maybe told us the signal was imminent!" Piper shrieked worriedly.

"Don't worry, we got it covered" Aviva said from behind.

Dozens of humans marched down the Golden Gate Bridge, some holding weapons, most of them empty-handed, relying on their wits for this operation.

In the middle of the humans were three figures in hooded robes, bound by the hands with rope.

The Seer stood tall in the middle of the Bridge, her cronies by her side, Zankou, Titus, several of her demonic generals.

Paige had orchestrated this whole charade, the figures in the middle were not The Charmed Ones, they were herself, Leo and Aviva, she just hoped The Seer didn't have some kind of X-ray vision, pfft who was she kidding? She was a demon, not Superman.

They reached their destination in the middle, the swirling vortex of hell looming above in all its terror and glory.

"I'm glad you've all finally come to your senses" The Seer said, satisfaction evident on her face.

"Now, remove those hoods and meet your fate" she commanded.

The three figures did nothing.

"I said now!" she screamed.

"Ok" said a voice behind her.

The Seer whirled around, too late.

Phoebe came flying through the air, Prue guiding her with her power, she sent her foot flying into The Seer's face, sending her flying across the bridge before the hooded figures.

Who now revealed themselves, "You" The Seer spat, looking up at Paige.

"They'll never accept you" she snarled nastily.

Paige reeled back for a moment, how could she know?

Prue and Piper got to work as Phoebe landed slowly.

Prue waving her arms and sending the demons off the bridge, Piper using her power to blow them to pieces as they went freefalling.

"Take that ass-hats" Piper was yelling as she blew each one up.

The Seer rose from the ground, fire literally flowing from her eyes, "You'll pay for this humans" she said with an eerie calm, the cloaked figure to the left suddenly erupted into flames.

"No!" Paige screamed, but it was too late, Aviva was a pile of ash.

"And now for you" she said, turning to Paige.

"I don't think so bitch!" Phoebe snarled as she tackled The Seer by the legs, knocking her to the ground and kicking her in the side.

"You just killed two of my friends back to back, I won't forgive that" Phoebe hissed as she landed more kicks on The Seer.

"Zankou, why are you just standing there, help me!" she barked at him.

Zankou had wondered casually up to the railing and, leaning against it, smiled at the devastation.

"I'm sorry, but I'm too busy enjoying the show" he said, smirking.

The Seer roared as a huge fiery shield of protection rose up around her, knocking Phoebe back into her sisters, who caught her.

"I will not stand for this" she seethed.

"I have worked too hard, for too long to see my great plan go up in smoke because of some three insignificant little whores".

"Ooh that wasn't very nice" Prue spat.

"Leo now!" Piper yelled.

Like a shining angel, Leo orbed down in front of the sisters, placed down the Heaven's Gate and orbed back out.

The Seer looked down at the relic, her eyes growing wide with fear.

"How did you get it?" she demanded.

"Don't you know you old hag?" Phoebe asked.

"The good guys always win" Prue answered.

The sisters held hands and began their chant.

" _Evil has gotten free,_

 _Now it's time to pay their fee,_

 _Send the evil back to hell,_

 _So good prevails and all is well,_

 _The Power of Three will set us free"._

They added the last part for good measure, a little extra power never hurt.

The portal in the sky doubled in size, spirals of blue lightning swirled out from within, striking the Earth with a heavenly might. Demons all across the bridge were being sucked up inside of it, screaming in terror as they were plucked from the ground.

Winds roared across the whole city as it swooped each evil magical being inside of the vortex now above the bridge.

"Hold on!" Prue yelled to Piper and Phoebe.

The three of them held hands and stood as close together as they could, finding shelter behind an abandoned truck.

Prue swore she could see a dragon being sucked up into the sky, it launching fire down at the ground in protest.

"I need to know she's gone!" Prue yelled to her sisters.

She unhooked her hand from Piper's and crawled around the side of the vehicle, not daring to move faster than a snail for fear of being sucked up into the sky again.

Then she saw her, The Seer, standing in the middle of the bridge, utter fury in her eyes, roaring at some unheard voice that this wasn't what they had planned, who was she talking too?

"You promised me!" she shrieked up at the heavens.

She turned her head and spotted Prue.

"You!" she snarled.

"Have ruined everything!"

In the same instant Prue raised her arms to help the wind telekinetically lift The Seer off the ground, giving it a helping hand with taking back its most evil creature.

"You won't get away with this!" The Seer screamed at her, in a final attempt at victory she threw her palm out towards Prue and let out a fearsome stream of flame.

Prue screamed and stepped back as her jacket caught on fire, she didn't notice how close to the edge of the bridge she was.

She didn't notice her sisters screaming at her to stop moving back.

She didn't notice the railing come up behind her.

The force of the tornado-like wind knocked her back and with a loud crack she whacked the back of her head on part of the metal rail, and fell down into the murky depths of the bay, unconscious and bleeding.

"We have to get her!" Phoebe yelled over the tumbling wind.

Piper was crying, "No we can't!" she shouted.

"If we let go of this truck we'll be sucked up to the sky!"

"Look!" Phoebe yelled.

A swirling shimmer of orbs was racing through the sky, and down into the roaring water of the bay, it plunged down underneath.

"Thank God for Leo!" Piper shouted.

Phoebe looked up, the wind was getting softer, she could just make out The Seer in her blood red robes as with a final pop, she was sucked into the vortex, the last evil creature.

The portal glowed a bright white colour and shimmered like the northern lights before collapsing in on itself, sealed shut.

The world returned to normal, the wind vanished, the sea calmed, the Heaven's Gate was gone.

Piper stood, she could barely hear herself think, she grabbed Phoebe's hand and the two ran to the edge of the railing, she felt sick as she felt her hand touch something sticky, blood.

"Please God don't do this to us" Phoebe whispered desperately.

"Not after all this".

Piper noticed a shimmering behind her, she whirled around and came face to face with Leo, he was alone.

"Where's Prue?" she asked, panicked.

"I don't know, isn't she with you" he said, looking around.

"But we just saw you go down into the ocean to look for her!" Phoebe barked at him.

Leo's look of puzzlement told them all they needed to know.

"No!" Piper began to sob, sinking to the ground.

"But I thought I saw…."Phoebe started.

"Look!" Leo yelled.

He was pointing at the sky, a large swirl of orbs rose from the water, the same orbs from before, they gently moved through the air and landed next to the trio, forming shapes, it was Paige!

And she had Prue with her, she was pale, her lips were blue, they were both soaking wet.

"Come here now!" Paige barked at the sisters.

Piper ran over and dropped down next to them.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"You know how to do compressions?" Paige asked.

Piper nodded and begun, with Paige trying her best to blow some life back into her.

"Please God, Please" Phoebe begged behind them, Leo's arm round her shoulder for comfort.

"Wait, her wound, Leo try healing her wound" Phoebe said suddenly.

"It's on her head" she said as Leo ran and sunk down next to Paige, his hands already glowing before they touched Prue, healing her head wound.

"The superficial wound is gone" he said.

"But…"

"But what?" Piper asked.

"There's no telling what damage that and the water did to her brain".

"Dammit!" Paige yelled as she thumped Prue in the chest.

"I didn't go all these years without you only to lose you now!"

Prue sputtered water from her mouth, it dribbled out and down her chin, she was alive.

"Yes!" Paige yelled in relief.

"She isn't waking up though" Phoebe pointed out.

"She needs a hospital" Piper said matter-of-factly.

Phoebe sat down beside her sisters, her hand on Prue's head, Piper's hand on Prue's leg, Paige's hand on her stomach.

All four sisters were in physical contact.

And the world began to shake.

"Not again!" Phoebe yelled.

But as soon as Phoebe lifted her hand off, the shaking stopped.

"We don't have time for this, let's orb, now!" Piper shrieked.

The five orbed off to the hospital, but unbeknownst to them, back at the manor some things were changing.

The future book of shadows faded away into the void, no longer existing.

The present book of shadows began to glow, the triquetra on the front breaking apart, stretching, the triangle on the top now had a strange protrusion jutting out of it's side, like a fourth triangle trying to fight its way free.

And the chandelier exploded into a millions pieces, covering the floor below in shards of glass and crystal, unable to cope with the power overload.

Phoebe walked back towards Prue's room, a tray of bad hospital coffee for her and her group, she had just made it to Prue's door when Piper walked outside.

"Put the tray down, now" she said, her older sister's boss voice fully activated.

"Uh-oh" Phoebe murmured as she was dragged off to the side.

"Spill, now" Piper said.

"Well I wouldn't wanna get burnt" Phoebe tried to say innocently, pointing towards the hot coffee.

"You know what I mean, Phoebe, just tell me, I don't have time for games, who is that girl?"

"What do you mean? She's Leo's charge".

"Nice try, I heard what she said on that bridge, she risked her life to save Prue and you made a point of having Leo keeping her safe throughout this whole mess, now tell me" Piper said angrily.

"I'm your sister" a voice said from behind them.

It was Paige. Wrapped in a towel, still damp.

Piper's jaw dropped.

"What does she mean?" Piper asked, disbelief clouding her voice.

"It's true, she's our younger half-sister, mom and her whitelighter, Sam" Phoebe explained.

"I can't deal with this right now, not today, I'm sorry, I know you're innocent in all this Paige, but I just can't" Piper said, grabbing her coffee and walking back into Prue's room.

"Piper we need to talk about this…" Phoebe said as she ran into Prue's room after her.

Paige walking in slowly behind, unsure of what to do.

The doctor was there waiting for them.

"There you are" he said sombrely.

"You might want to sit" he said pointing to the chairs.

"No, just say it" Piper said quietly, her coffee cup shaking from the tremor in her hand.

"You sister has suffered significant damage to her brain, I'm so sorry, but there is almost no chance at all that she'll ever wake up".

"You have failed us Lamia" The Angel of Destiny said to The Seer.

The Seer looked around, she was back in the strange white room, beyond the clouds and above the stars, she was floating in the middle, completely naked, The Angels surrounding her. She took a good look around, there were hundreds of them, all peppered out around the large room, it was like she was in the middle of some arena, all eyes directed at her.

She wouldn't accept this, The Angel in charge, this woman, whoever she was had promised her success.

"It was you who bought me back to life, where is my reward?!" The Seer demanded.

"We do not reward failures" A male Angel said to the left.

"Failures?!" The Seer spat.

"If you had helped me we all could have won!"

The Angels in unison all shook their heads.

"You're fools, the whole stinking lot of you" The Seer snarled.

"We manoeuvred you into place centuries ago, we foresaw that The Charmed Ones would become a problem over time, we hoped you would deal with them for us" The head Angel said calmly.

"But you didn't, we no longer have any use for you" she continued.

She raised her arm and The Seer screamed in terror as her spirit tumbled down through the stars, back to the hell the Angels had raised her from.

"What do we do now D-1?" The Angel to the left asked their leader.

"The Seer has lost D-5, the demons are gone, the warlocks are gone, and there is no magical evil left in the human plane" she said softly.

"We must rely on what I think the humans refer to as our "trump card".

"You mean the un-prophesised sister?" Another Angel wondered.

"Yes D-9, she is the key, she owes her existence to us, after all, we control all Destiny, and if not for us, the Destiny of Patricia Halliwell would not have been altered without our involvement".

The head of The Angels of Destiny, known as D-1 looked out through the hole in the middle of the floor, down to Earth, and smiled.

"Evil has failed, now it's our turn".

The end of season Four.

A small apology – I have to say that I'm very sorry for this last chapter taking so long to come out, life really screwed me lately and I've been dealing with the fallout from that, writing and reading have not been top of the agenda these past few months, so the fanfic had to be put aside whilst I dealt with real life issues. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the alternate take on season four.

Author notes and Thankyou's

I don't know where to start! I guess at the beginning.

I think I was 8 years old, I had always been interested in fantasy and magic and the supernatural, and one day my parents sat me down to watch a TV show they'd thought I would like called "Charmed", I'd never heard of it, they'd never watched it, they just knew it had magic in it, I'm pretty sure the very first episode I saw was "Animal Pragmatism", the Valentine episode that had three girls turn their pets into hunky dates, it was cheesy, it definitely was not the best Charmed had to offer, and yet? I was HOOKED.

For those who don't know, I live in the UK, when I was younger the UK used to get American shows a long time after they had aired in the States, I remember being 10, my life was busy back then, lots of moving around, so I'd missed a considerable chunk of season four, I turned back on one day, eager to see where the show had gone, and I was heartbroken, I believe it was "Bite Me", and I was sitting there utterly confused, who was this Paige? Where is Prue? Why is Cole now The Source? WHAT IS GOING ON?!

I caught up, and within about ten episodes I realised that Paige was my favorite character, I loved her! She was quirky, fun, intelligent, independent, all the things I wanted to be.

But I missed Prue and the original dynamic, as the show progressed into seasons five and then six, something was just off. I was still enjoying the show, I still loved my Paige, but Piper and Phoebe were….different. Piper had become mean, Phoebe had become selfish, these were not the sisters I'd grown up with, most of the time, they didn't even act like sisters anymore, just roommates. Now that I'm older I realise it was because of behind the scenes issues and showrunner problems. They didn't know where to take the show once season four wrapped up. So I made it my mission to go back and re-do it for them, come up with a coherent, clever plot to tie everything together, to retain the original power of three, to keep my favorite character and save her for something special, to come up with an interesting plot to explain things that I didn't think the show did very well in later seasons.

Flash-forward several years and I actually did it, I started my fanfiction, and so far I've had such a wonderful experience. I've gotten such great feedback and so many lovely reviews. It wasn't what I was expecting, it wasn't what I was aiming for or what I was hoping to get, I just wanted to fix one of my favorite series of all time, so that I could looked back in ten years and be proud of what I've written, proud of my own version of Charmed. But I won't lie. The good reviews are nice, my ego is huge right now, feel free to knock it back down! Seriously, I always welcome constructive criticism, I'd much rather know if there is something you aren't enjoying, not saying I would change it, but I would at least think about it.

When I began I was only ever going to do an alternate season four, and leave it there, but a small plotline came about whilst I was writing, something I wanted to explore that the show very lightly touched on but never fully went into, in season five, you'll find out a lot of things, I'll give you some tidbits to tide you over until I resume the story, don't worry, it won't be long, I just want to flesh out the plot fully before I post anything. Things that will be covered are Paige's origins, Piper's infertility, Phoebe's career and Prue's love-life. And I don't want to say too much about what exactly the main enemy will be next season, though if you've read Chapter 22 of season four you probably already know. Let's just say, destiny is involved.


	23. At Death's Door

Charmed Reborn Season Five, Chapter Twenty-Three: "At Death's Door".

30 days after the events of the season four finale.

Prue bolted down the street, it was after her again, the thing that had been chasing her all this time, "You can't have me!" she yelled behind her.

She rounded the corner and stopped to catch her breath, clutching her chest.

She looked around, she had made it back to Prescott Street, except it wasn't Prescott Street, there were no people, no vehicles, no animals, just empty. She still had no idea where she was after all this time, if she had to guess some kind of spirit world, after all, she was being chased by the angel of death.

"Prue can you hear me?" Piper asked, her hand entwined with her oldest sibling's. Hoping somehow to press some life back into it.

They were at San Francisco memorial, where Piper had spent almost every day for the past month, trying to will her sister back to life, but it was no use. No matter what she did, what spells she cast, which creatures she begged for help, nothing had worked.

The last few weeks had been a whirlwind.

From discovering Paige, to losing Prue, it was too much.

It had been a whole month and Piper still hadn't had a proper conversation with her newest sister, she just couldn't bring herself to do it, by accepting and moving on with Paige it was like she was replacing Prue, forgetting about the only person in the entire word who had been there for her for her entire life.

It wasn't Paige's fault, deep down she knew that, Phoebe had tried to explain over and over, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone wrong.

She remembered when her and Leo and Phoebe got back from the hospital four weeks ago, to find the chandelier in their hallway had exploded. Phoebe figure it must have been the earthquake, but then there was the new weird shape on the cover of the book of shadows, it just didn't add up.

"Please come back to me sis, please" Piper begged as she lowered her head onto Prue's shoulder, crying and praying for the God's above to send her back.

Phoebe threw the crust of her last slice of pizza back into the box, she hated the crusts. Paige instantly swooped it up, she was the opposite, she loved them.

They both giggled and reached for their drinks, just soda, Phoebe didn't want to bring any alcohol with her, after Paige had told her she had had an alcohol problem in college.

"I love movie nights" Phoebe sighed.

"Me too" Paige said, smiling.

Phoebe felt bad for Paige, Leo was here a lot, helping her settle in to being a witch, and Phoebe was teaching her as much as she could, but Piper had virtually ignored her since finding out who she was, and it wasn't fair.

"I'm going to see Prue tomorrow, fancy tagging along?" Phoebe asked.

Paige nodded, "of course, I went just yesterday, I don't think Piper was very happy when I showed up but whatever".

"Paige I'm so sorry about the way she's treated you, if Prue were awake, I know she would have been the loving sister you deserve".

"I get it, I mean I don't think it's fair but I do get it" Paige said sadly.

"When my parents died I didn't want to meet anyone, see anyone, I shunned my aunt and uncle for months, its hard".

Phoebe hung her head.

"Oh God not that I mean that Prue was dead or anything, clearly she isn't or you know, yeah…..dammit" Paige sighed.

"Its ok sweetie, I know that's not what you meant" Phoebe said, taking Paige's hand to reassure her.

"It wasn't that, I'm just dreading tomorrow, I have to have a not so very nice conversation with Piper" Phoebe's eyes welled up.

"No way in hell" Piper spat.

"Piper, please just listen to me" Phoebe begged.

They were standing in the parking lot.

"You have to consider this, Prue wouldn't want to live like this".

"We are not turning off those machines, she'll die without them" Piper said sharply.

"She's already dead" Phoebe said quietly.

"She has been for a long time, and I think its time we put her out of her misery".

Paige stood behind them awkwardly, not wanting to intrude.

"Was it her?" Piper asked suddenly, shooting daggers at Paige.

"Me? What are you t-talking about?" she stuttered.

"Are you putting ideas in Phoebe's head? That we should let go of Prue, is that it?!" Piper demanded.

"I would never do that" Paige said, shock quickly turning to anger.

"Maybe if you had spent more than five minutes talking to me in the past month you would know that I'd never say anything like that" Paige snarled.

"Piper listen to what you're saying" Phoebe said.

"You're accusing Paige now? No Piper, this is all me, if me wanting to stop my sister suffering makes me a bad person then lock me in jail, because that's what I want, I want her to move on" Phoebe explained.

"Phoebe, she's not a dog, we can't just put her down!" Piper yelled.

"I know that Piper, this isn't about killing her" tears were leaking down Phoebe's cheeks.

"The last thing I want to do is say goodbye, why do you think I try and avoid this place at all costs? I hate seeing her like that, but it's been a long time and I think she would want to move on, be up there with Grams, Mom, Andy and Darryl".

"Not stuck down here, a vegetable" Phoebe concluded.

Piper considered her words, she knew Phoebe was right.

Prue was gone.

Lucas Devane was one of the richest men on the West coast, he had everything to live for, a booming business, a gorgeous girlfriend, two beautiful nieces, an amazing collection of cars as well as several properties, or at least, he'd had them.

He must be the unluckiest person to have ever lived, in the past month he'd lost all his money, his business had gone under, his girlfriend, Marissa had died in a car wreck and all his properties had burnt down, and to add to that, just last night his brother's home had been hit by an unexplainable earthquake, killing his two nieces and any family he might have had left.

What was going on? How had he gone from that to this in a less than four weeks? It just didn't add up. So now he found himself standing at the top of San Francisco memorial, contemplating life, what did he have left to live for? Nothing he could think of, everything he cherished was gone.

The door to the roof behind him opened and he heard footsteps, who could that be?

A woman rounded the corner, she seemed surprised to see him there, as she came closer he realised he recognised her, but he couldn't place her.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked tentatively.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he wondered.

"My name is Piper Halliwell, we uh…actually went on a date once, at the restaurant Quake".

"Piper!" he exclaimed.

"Wow, you look good, still worried about superstitions?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Haha, no, not really" she replied with a grimace.

"Well, I'm starting to think you may have been right" he said wistfully.

"I just saw a news report on you earlier this morning" she said.

"Yeah, I've gone from a hero to a zero all right, all the stations are broadcasting the fall of the once great Lucas Devane" he said, miserable.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"My sister is in the hospital, she's in a coma, and my other sister wants to shut off the life support machines, and I needed some air, somewhere to get away".

"I'm sorry to hear that".

"You have nothing to be sorry for Lucas, God I don't know how I'd still be standing if I were in your position right now" Piper said gently.

"That's why I've decided to end it" he said simply.

"Nice seeing you again Piper, I hope your sister recovers".

And then he jumped.

"No!" Piper yelled, throwing up her hands and froze him mid-air.

"Leo!" Piper shouted.

A shimmer of orbs appeared in front of her, but it wasn't Leo.

"Paige?" she asked, confused.

"Where's Leo?"

"He had to go and see the elders, so he gave me permission to intercept his charges calls, he wanted me to practice" she shrugged.

"Uh-huh, well I found this guy jumping off the roof and needed some help" Piper surmised.

"Oh my God it's what's-his-face from the news" Paige exclaimed.

"Yep, that's him" Piper said awkwardly, not really sure of how to speak to her new sister.

"I can orb him to safety, in fact, I can orb him to my work and hopefully get him some help" Paige said confidently.

Piper was impressed, now that she thought about it, Paige was very on the dot, independent and a quick thinker.

Paige was about to orb over to get him.

"Paige" Piper said quickly.

She stopped and opened her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'm sorry about accusing you earlier, I know I don't know you very well but I had no right to say what I said" Piper said sheepishly.

"No, you didn't, but you're hurt and in pain, so I'll accept it, because one day I know you and I are going to be close" Paige said.

"Did you by any chance get the Warren power of premonition?" Piper asked.

Paige smiled.

"Nope, I just have a feeling".

And with that she orbed away, her orbs hovering in the sky, surrounding Lucas and orbing him to the social services.

How she was going to explain all this to him she didn't know, hopefully Leo had lent her some memory dust.

Phoebe sat in Prue's room, her hand clasped to one of Prue's.

"Me and Paige had a movie night last night, I think you'd really like her, she's so much like Grams, won't take any crap, I guess you have that in common with her too" Phoebe said softly.

This had become a ritual to her, seeing Prue every other day, filling her in on her adventures, telling her about Paige, it was soothing, getting to talk to someone and not have them argue back with you, which is pretty much all her and Piper had done the last month.

She sighed and placed Prue's arm back down.

Phoebe got up and walked towards the door.

When she reached the doorway she turned back around, "I love you" she said.

"Phoebe help me!" Prue suddenly called out.

Phoebe almost collapsed in shock.

"Prue?!" "Thank God!" she exclaimed in tears, running back to the bed.

But when she got there Prue was still comatose.

"Wait, what?" she asked herself.

"What is it?" Piper asked, having just reached the room.

"Piper, you missed it, Prue just called out to me" she said hurriedly.

"Huh?" Piper wondered, confused.

"I was just about to leave and she called out for my help, she's in there Piper, something is hurting her and we need to get her out".

"She called out?" Leo asked.

Phoebe nodded furiously.

"I wouldn't lie about this" Phoebe said, starting to think herself crazy.

"I believe you, but how do we help her? We've tried everything we can think of" Piper said, defeated.

The three of them had returned to the attic, and Phoebe was quickly skimming through the book of shadows, trying to find something she'd seen before.

"Here!" Phoebe said excitedly, pointing out a page.

Piper walked over behind her.

"To find a lost love?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's a spell, see, it should take us directly to Prue wherever she is" Phoebe explained.

"Yeah, but, Prue isn't a lost love, she's a sibling" Leo pointed out.

"It'll work" Phoebe said confidently.

"It has too, she may not be a lost love but she is a lost loved one, I think it should count".

"We don't have anything else to lose" Piper agreed.

"I'll get the candles" Phoebe said.

"It's no use running Prue" the angel of death said.

She whipped around, he had found her, she had been hiding out the last couple of hours in the basement of the barren version of the manor.

"You can't have me, it's not my time, please" she begged.

"I came to see you a while ago, and I said soon one of you would be facing death" he said calmly.

"You only said if we hadn't accepted death as inevitable" Prue said.

"And I have" she said, steeling herself against him.

"But I know in my heart now is not the time, not for me".

"That's what they all say" he said gently.

"No!" she yelled.

Prue focused her power and projected herself away.

She opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that she had ended up in her old office at Buckland auction house.

"Of all the places" she said to herself.

She had to stay strong and hope her sisters would find her.

The candles had been lit and Phoebe and Piper sat in the middle of them on the attic floor.

"You sure its wise you both going?" Leo asked, concerned.

"It's not like there are gonna be any demon attacks" Phoebe said, shrugging.

"Let's do this" Piper said.

They both recited together.

" _Whither my love, wherever you be,_

 _Through time and space,_

 _Take my heart, nearer to thee"._

The two collapsed and felt their spirits leave them.

"Who's that Paige?" Mr Cowen asked her.

Paige looked back over her shoulder, Lucas was sitting in her office with a cup of tea, trying to relax.

"My sister found him on the hospital roof ready to jump earlier, I thought maybe I could help" she answered.

"Paige, I couldn't be more proud of who you've become, but is this really our jurisdiction?" he asked.

Paige shrugged, "I know, I know, but I couldn't just leave him" she said.

"Well, just be careful, if this guy is that close to breaking point, he could need more help that you can give him" Mr Cowen advised.

"Ok, thanks Mr Cowen".

Paige grabbed her folder and walked back to her office, perhaps Mr Cowen was right, counselling was not her forte.

"How you feeling?" she asked Lucas.

"Better, thank you, though I still don't understand how I even got here, I was on the hospital roof and then….?" He looked questioningly towards her.

"Ugh, you met my sister, Piper? She saw you about to jump and hit you from behind with a brick to knock you out".

That was a rotten explanation but she was still pretty new at all this.

"Damn, she has a mean punch" he said.

"Well what did you think you were doing?" Paige asked.

"I wanted it all to end, you don't understand, everything lately has gone so wrong" he explained.

"I watch the news, I know, I'm so sorry for what has happened to you, but this isn't the answer, suicide never is, please promise me you will get some help, talk to someone, anyone, a professional that is, I know someone downtown, an old college friend, she can help" Paige said, scribbling down the number of her old friend Michelle who had recently become a psychiatrist.

"Please, do me a favour and ring her?" Paige asked.

Lucas nodded, "Ok, thanks Paige, and thank your sister as well for me, I must have been out of my mind" he said, getting up and leaving.

"It is weird" Paige said to herself.

"How his life suddenly went 180 like that, out of nowhere".

A lightbulb shone over Paige's head.

It had to be, you don't just get luck that bad in the space of a month, surely it wasn't possible, his problems weren't just a case of bad luck, Paige could feel it, they were magical.

Phoebe and Piper felt like they were on a rollercoaster, like they were swirling through some kind of vortex, where is it they were going?  
The two projected into an empty room, where are we? Phoebe thought.

"Phoebe, isn't this Prue's office at Buckland's?" Piper asked.

"Huh, I knew it looked familiar" Phoebe answered.

Suddenly a scream from behind them sent them diving to the floor in front.

"You can't have me!" Prue shrieked as she ran at her sisters. Stopping dead in her tracks just above them.

"Whoa, I think it worked" Piper said quickly.

"Thank God!" Phoebe said, standing.

"Who are you?" Prue asked.

Piper and Phoebe turned to each other in unison, confusion etched on their features

"Prue, it's us, your sisters?" Piper said unsure.

"How do I know its really you, I've seen things here you wouldn't believe" Prue replied.

"Um, second grade, you stole one of grams' recipe books to use as your diary and she got real mad" Piper said, enunciating the "real".

Prue hung her head, she was crying.

"I've missed you so much" she said, grabbing her sisters into a fierce hug.

"But where have you guys been?" she asked, wiping away her tears.

"Prue, I don't know if you know this or not, but you're in a coma, we're spirits right now" Phoebe explained.

"A coma?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah, when the demons were flying into hell you got knocked unconscious and fell in the water, it's been a whole month" Piper expanded.

"Oh God, that explains a lot" Prue said, sitting on the edge of her desk.

"We tried everything we could think of to contact you, but it wasn't until today that we knew for sure you were still in there" Phoebe said sadly.

"So this is the spirit realm?" Prue wondered.

"I think its more like some kind of limbo, between life and death" Phoebe theorized.

"That makes sense, I've been seeing other people pass through but then they fade away, moving on I guess" Prue said, shrugging.

"Well we're here to tell you to wake up already!" Piper yelled.

"Ouch" Prue said, covering her ears.

"Sorry, thought maybe a loud voice would do it" Piper said, smiling.

The three of them laughed, it felt good to all be together again.

"There's also someone you need to meet" Phoebe said eagerly.

"Phoebs" Piper said simply.

"What?" she said, turning to face Piper, "she deserves to know".

"Know what?" Prue queried.

"Now isn't the time" Piper stated.

"Well you said it yourself she might need a little more incentive" Phoebe said through gritted teeth.

"Well this is a surprise" a voice said from behind them.

It was him.

"Who the heck is that?" Piper asked.

"It's the angel of death" Prue said simply.

"He's here for me".

"Well too bad bub, she's coming back with us" Piper said, her and Phoebe moving to stand in front of their eldest sibling.

"You can't hurt me, I am eternal, immortal" he said warningly.

"What do we do?" Phoebe asked, fear in her voice.

The Angel of Destiny known as D-1 looked down upon the world.

She watched the fourth sister, the one known as Paige, she and her people had been waiting so long for this to come about, if she could feel emotion she would almost call herself excited.

"It seems one of the sisters is on our trail" an angel known as D-7 said from behind.

"Yes it would seem so" D-1 said.

"Good".

"The time will come when she finds out what kind of burden she is putting on her family, and when she finally does realize, it'll be too late for all of them".

End of Chapter Twenty-Three, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-Four, "Cheating Death".


	24. Cheating Death

Charmed Reborn Season Five, Chapter Twenty-Four: "Cheating Death".

"Run!" Piper yelled, grabbing her sisters' arms and running towards the window.

"Wait, what?" Phoebe shrieked as Piper raised her hands and blew the window out of it's frame.

"You can levitate us down" she explained.

"You can't run forever!" the angel yelled at them as the three sisters floated down onto the street below.

"Now what?" Prue asked.

"P3?" Piper suggested as they ran down the street.

"Are you kidding? That's like the second place the bad guys will look for us" Phoebe said through deep breaths.

"Then where?" Piper wondered.

The sisters stopped around another street to catch their breath.

"Can someone please tell me how we can still get out of breath in the spirit world?" Phoebe asked.

Prue shrugged.

"Come on, I think I know somewhere we can go" she said, taking the lead.

Paige rung the doorbell to the manor, Phoebe had told her to walk straight in, but she didn't feel comfortable doing that, so she waited patiently, and she waited some more, until eventually she twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

"Anyone home?" she called.

That was weird, she thought, she'd already checked the hospital and the only person there was Prue's boyfriend, where else would her sisters be?  
She walked casually over the threshold, unsure of what to do. If she'd learnt anything in the past couple of months, it was to trust her gut when it told her something was off.

"Phoebe?" she yelled.

"Piper?" she said quieter.

She began to climb the stairs upwards, she had a whole wad of evidence in her bag, articles she had collected from the last few weeks about Lucas Devane, something magical had to be going on here, she just knew it, he wouldn't have just randomly come into her life if she wasn't meant to help him right?  
She finally made it up to the attic, only to see Phoebe and Piper unconscious on the floor.

"Oh my God!" she shrieked as she ran across the room.

She unknowingly knocked a candle off a holder, it went out and all of a sudden Paige felt a huge power surge and her sisters glowed momentarily.

"Whoa" Phoebe said groggily, getting to her feet.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, hey Paige" she said happily as she noticed her newest sibling.

"Uh, hi, are you two ok?" Paige asked, wary.

"Oh yeah, it's all good" Phoebe said.

"No, it's not" Piper snarled, popping up next to Phoebe.

"Did you do that?" she asked, pointing to the candle.

"Oh, yeah I must have knocked it over" Paige said, bending over to pick it back up.

"Just great!" Piper yelled.

"Do you know what you just did?"

"Piper, please" Phoebe begged.

"We were just talking to Prue, she's alive and being chased by the Angel of Death in the spirit world, and you just broke our spell!" Piper let out all in one breath.

"I'm really sorry" Paige said quietly.

"I didn't know".

"Hmph, yeah well what else is new?" Piper asked scathingly.

"Piper, do you really have to be so mean?" Phoebe asked angrily.

"I'm sorry" Paige said, her eyes watering, she turned around and marched back out of the attic.

"Just great Piper, just great" Phoebe began.

"Now Paige probably hates us, what was she supposed to think? She came here to visit and she finds us out cold on the floor? I would have freaked out too!" Phoebe yelled.

"Let's just get back to Prue, we can deal with Paige later" Piper said, trying to stay calm.

"Yeah right, like she ever wants to come here again" Phoebe murmured.

Paige listened at the bottom of the attic stairs. Fine, she thought, if that's how they want to be then so be it, she would investigate it herself.

"Where did you guys go?" Prue hissed at her sisters as they astral projected back into the spirit world.

"Sorry, we had a disturbance in the force" Piper said sheepishly.

Phoebe giggled.

"So where now?" Phoebe asked, her giggling fit subsiding.

"This way" Prue directed, running down a back alley.

Eventually the trio arrived at an old, derelict building downtown.

"This place looks like it's coming apart" Piper noted as they walked in.

"Where are we?" Phoebe wondered.

"We're at an old Buckland's warehouse" Prue explained.

"And how is this place any safer than any other?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know Phoebe, I just needed somewhere to think" Prue said a little too testily.

Piper and Phoebe gave each other a look.

"I think you've been here a little too long honey" Piper said, placing a hand on Prue's shoulder.

"You think I don't know that!" Prue yelled.

Piper recoiled.

"I…I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed is all" Prue said, ashamed at barking at her sister.

"What's been happening here?" Phoebe asked.

"I see odd flashes, people coming through, like little sparks of energy, and then they fade away, I try to speak to them but they can't hear me, they never hear me" Prue said, defeated, burying her face in her hands.

"Well now you have us" Piper said defiantly.

"And?" Phoebe queried.

"Now we have the power of three" Piper explained.

Prue shot up, "you're right!" she said, more happily.

"Except we don't have the power of three" Phoebe said.

"We're just spirits, we can use our individual powers but something big like the power of three? I'm not so sure of that" she continued, feeling terrible at the crushed look on Prue's face.

"Well then let's test it, we used a spell to get us here, there is a reversal spell to pull us back to our bodies, why wouldn't it work for Prue?" Piper wondered.

Phoebe nodded in encouragement, "let's try it".

Paige rang the doorbell to Lucas Devane's apartment complex, it was huge, and he owned every room inside it, though not for much longer if the papers were to be believed. She'd show her so-called sisters that she was capable of following up a lead by herself.

She got no answer, she knocked on the door instead and as her fist hit the door it swung open, this is a bad sign Paige suspected.

She walked in gingerly, unsure of what to expect.

"Hello?" she called out.

She noticed a white light coming out of a room to the right, she steeled herself, this is my moment to shine she thought as she barged her way into the room.

Paige gasped. An older man in flowing white robes stood before her.

"You were not supposed to see this, but I suppose that which defies destiny is not able to follow our rules" he said to her.

"What do you mean by that? Who are you?" Paige asked urgently.

"I mean you aren't even supposed to exist, and as for who I am? You don't get to know that yet, but I can tell you this, if you want to save your sister, simply turn off her life support machine, but tell no-one you saw me" the man smiled and disappeared in a haze of bright energy.

Paige was confused, who was that strange man? Some kind of whitelighter? He didn't orb away, so he couldn't have been, maybe she could look in the book of shadows later on.

She snapped back into reality, the reason she came here, Lucas Devane, where was he? Paige noticed the en-suite bathroom door was ajar, she crept over, not wanting to invade anyone's privacy, but she needed to help this man.

She let out a scream as she opened the bathroom door, to see Lucas hanging from the light, his face blue and his neck taut, he was gone. Paige sunk to the floor, shock gripping her, this man had committed suicide, if only she had gotten here sooner, it must have been that strange man, she clearly couldn't trust him, but he had told her to switch Prue's machine off, and she would be saved, what could he have meant by that? That turning it off would wake her up? Or she would be showing her oldest sibling mercy by letting her go toward the light? This was all very confusing.

She shook her head thoroughly trying to clear out the clutter, before she did anything, she had to help Lucas somehow, at least getting the proper authorities to find him would be a good start, she rummaged through her purse and pulled out her cell phone, she could at least call an ambulance, though she knew it would be futile at this point.

"Repeat after us" Piper urged.

Piper and Phoebe recited the spell, with Prue following along a line behind.

" _Return thy love,_

 _Wherever she be,_

 _Through time and space,_

 _Bring her back to me"._

Prue looked on in horror as her sisters vanished, whilst she remained exactly where she was. The spell had failed.

"Good" a voice said from behind her.

"Alone at last".

Prue whirled around, it was the angel of death, he had found her again. She lowered her head, resigned to her fate. She couldn't run any longer.

"Dammit I knew this wouldn't work" Phoebe said as her and Piper awoke.

"Well her body is at the hospital Einstein, how about we go there first?" Piper asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah" Phoebe said half-heartedly.

"Let's go".

"Please don't do this, I don't want to die" Prue begged, she wasn't proud of it, but she could think of nothing else.

"I'm not going to take you to the afterlife" the angel said abruptly.

"Wait, what?" Prue asked, taken aback.

"But I thought….?"

"If you had stayed still for more than ten seconds every time I saw you, you would have known that" he said, raising an eyebrow in annoyance.

"So then what do you want?" she asked.

"I want your help, in fact, all of magic needs your help, as well as your sisters".

"But why? We defeated The Source" Prue said slowly, trying to convey her confusion.

"There is something much worse than that after this world, all worlds in fact, I only learnt about the plot recently, it surrounds your family" he explained.

"What could be worse? We sealed all the evil away" Prue said.

"Aaaah yes you did indeed, but do you know what is more evil than actual evil?" he asked.

Prue shook her head, she had no idea what he meant.

"Those who claim to be good, but are so blinded by their morality they don't realise what they are actually doing is evil" he said matter of fact.

"So there's something out there? Something after us? Who claims to be good but aren't?" she checked.

"Yes, they are the supreme power who governs this world, I can't say any more than that I'm afraid, for I value my own life too much" and with that a hazy shadow engulfed him, and he vanished into the air.

"How am I supposed to help if I'm trapped here?" Prue yelled into the air.

"Did Paige take the bait?" D-1 asked her colleague upon his return to the upper realms.

"I believe she did, soon we will have the complete power of three back, and then the plan can really begin" he said with a smirk.

D-1 looked down upon the cosmos, "there is still much to be done".

Paige entered the hospital, and walked slowly to the right ward, she felt like a criminal, darting behind carts and around corners, this was ridiculous, she was just visiting her sister, if anyone saw her acting like this they'd probably take her up to the psych ward.

She gathered her thoughts and made her way to the elevator, she hoped neither of her other sisters were there because honestly she didn't feel much like talking to them right now, she wasn't really sure why she was doing what that strange man had told her to, it was almost as if she was being compelled to follow his words, to do his bidding, great, she thought, she really was an evil minion.

Once inside the elevator she turned around to face the mirror on the other side and with a gasp slammed backwards into the doors, she could have sworn she saw Prue in the glass, her face crying up at something, but it was gone in an instant, what was it she had seen? An illusion? Reality? There was only one way to truly find out.

"This is why we don't let you drive" Piper remarked in the passenger seat.

"What does that mean? I can drive if I want to" Phoebe said, annoyed.

"I can't help it if there's traffic Piper" Phoebe reiterated for the tenth time since leaving the manor.

Piper rolled her eyes, "It just came out of nowhere though" she exclaimed in irritation.

"I know sweetie but Prue isn't going anywhere" Phoebe said soothingly.

"It doesn't matter anyway, we both know it didn't work, she would have called one of us or astral projected to us by now if she were awake" Piper said glumly.

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, Piper was probably right, but they wouldn't know for sure until they got there.

"Grab my cell phone and call the hospital if you really can't wait" Phoebe suggested.

"I guess" Piper said.

"Where is it?" she asked looking in the backseat.

"Oh I forgot, it's in my jacket, here let me get it".

Phoebe fumbled around and pulled the phone out, scrolling to the hospital's number before getting a massive static shock as a premonition was flung into her mind.

In it she saw Paige standing by Prue's hospital bed, she looked at Prue for a few moments, sadness in her eyes before walking over to her life support machine, and switching it off.

"What did you see?" Piper asked, panicked.

"Can we run to the hospital from here?" Phoebe asked quickly.

Piper nodded, "if we have to I guess".

"Let's go, I'll explain on the way" Phoebe said quickly.

Both sisters got out the car and bolted down the road, the sounds of car horns following them up the street as the car they'd left blocked the middle of the road.

"A good idea to use something as mortal as traffic to block their way D-3". D-1 said with a smile.

"I surmised they wouldn't suspect anything should something so mundane get in their way" he replied.

"Paige is in position" she told her fellow angels.

Paige walked into Prue's room, she breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw no-one was visiting, she plonked her bag onto a chair and walked over to Prue, taking her in, she'd never even spoken to her properly, maybe now she would get the chance. She moved to the other side, her hand involuntarily moving towards the dial that would switch off the apparatus helping Prue breathe, she couldn't stop herself. She twisted it to the "off" position. And the screen went black.

End of Chapter Twenty-Four, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-Five, "Problems".


	25. Problems

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-Five: "Problems".

Will Marks was at the hospital, it had seemed like forever since he'd seen Prue smile, it had only been just over a month, a long, long month.

He sipped from his cup of tea and contemplated for a while, what to do with himself should Prue's sisters decide to withdraw care, he had no say it in, but he hoped they wouldn't give up on her yet.

He rubbed his eyes, he was exhausted, the nurse had recommended he go back to his hotel for some rest but he just couldn't face it, he would never forgive himself if something happened and he hadn't been there. He shut his eyes, breathed and concentrated on the hospital, this had been his past-time for the past month, using his power to sense the building, sense the people in it, it made him feel like he was providing security for Prue, even though he knew it was pointless, the demons were gone, who would be after The Charmed Ones now?

He could sense someone in Prue's room, it was Paige, that's ok he thought, just one of Prue's sisters, though something was off about her, her aura felt….stressed, contaminated, if he could describe it to another person it was like Paige's base white aura had hints of red and yellow, like a watercolour painting.

Something didn't feel right, he drained his cup and threw it in the trash, before making his way back to Prue's room.

Paige stood to the right of Prue's bed, her eyes unfocused, glazed over, where was she? It was like she was glued to the spot, unable to move her own body, like she'd been drugged, but she hadn't, had she?

Feeling started to return to her body, her hands twitched, slowly she could make out the sound of a beeping machine, she slowly turned her head, her mouth slowly opened in horror, it was Prue's life support machine, it was going crazy, a thin line was blaring across it, she wasn't breathing. Paige awoke from her stupor and spurned into action, she ran to the door, threw it open and yelled for help.

Several nurses and a doctor came running in.

"Paddles!" The doctor yelled.

"Oh God, what did I do?" Paige asked herself quietly.

A man appeared in the doorway, Will.

"Paige?" he asked.

"What's going on?" his eyes filling with terror as the doctor charged the paddles.

"No wait!" Paige yelled, she raised both her arms and orbs surrounded the hospital staff as well as Will, and they were flung onto the ceiling, staring down in horror.

"What is this?" A nurse shrieked in fear.

Suddenly the woman froze, everyone did but Will, who continued to struggle free of the binding orbs.

"We'd like the answer to that as well" A voice said from behind, Piper.

"What the hell have you done?" She asked in cold anger as her and Phoebe shoved past Paige and to the side of Prue's bed.

"I don't….I don't know" Paige said quietly, confused.

"Phoebe she's dying" Piper said in panic.

"No she isn't" Phoebe said with determination, thrusting her hand onto Prue's forehead and closing her eyes.

Prue looked up into the sky, a warm, calming presence was echoing through the clouds.

"Prue" it whispered, "follow my voice Prue".

"Phoebe?" Prue asked, wondering what the heck was going on.

"Feel me Prue, feel my emotions, and Piper's" Phoebe said, grabbing onto Piper's shoulder in the human plane.

Prue cast her heart upwards, she could feel her sisters, they were calling to her, guiding her, it was now or never.

She raised her arms and the flew into the sky at a rapid pace. The wind stinging her eyes.

"Come to us Prue" Phoebe yelled.

And she did.

Prue gasped as she awoke, sitting bolt upright, trying to catch her breath.

"Leo!" Piper yelled.

Leo appeared instantly, "Oh my God is she alright?!" he asked as he saw Prue awake.

"Not sure, memory dust now, explain later" Piper said, pointing upwards.

Paige stood there, tears flooding her face, "I don't know what happened" she gasped out through sobs.

"Paige, listen to me, take my hand" Leo asked.

Paige looked into Leo's eyes and composed herself, nodding, she took his hand and let the healing touch comfort her.

"Paige look up" he said.

"Get those people down, use your power, guide them down gently".

Paige used her other hand and lowered it, slowly freeing the people from the orbs and floating them down onto the floor.

"Good job" Leo said, giving her a small smile.

He produced a bag from his pocket and threw what looked like colorful dust over the people's heads, erasing their short term memories.

Paige took a step towards Prue.

"Stay back" Piper snarled.

"I….I just want to make sure she's ok" Paige stammered.

"She is, and no thanks to you, get out" Piper ordered.

Paige grabbed her stuff and ran, tears flowing down her face.

"Something isn't right here Piper, I could sense something off with Paige" Phoebe said carefully.

"Something's off alright" Piper muttered.

"Prue can you hear us?" Phoebe asked gently.

Prue nodded, smiling, which quickly turned into a frown.

"What is it?" Piper asked.

Prue opened her mouth, "I….um….I can't think of the word" she said, panic reaching her eyes.

"What does that mean? What does she mean?" Piper asked Leo.

"The doctor should take a look" Leo suggested.

"Your sister's temporal lobe shows some signs of damage, her memories are hazy, and her speech is sluggish, this is probably caused by the hypoxia she suffered after being dragged out of the water" the doctor explained.

"You couldn't have mentioned this before" Piper seethed.

"Ms. Halliwell, until today quite frankly, I believed your sister was to put it mildly " a goner" he said, getting frustrated

"The good news is this isn't usually permanent, it will take her some time to remember, to get her old patterns back in place, but she'll get there eventually".

"Thank you doctor, for everything" Phoebe said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Phoebe turned to Piper, "now we need to talk about Paige" she said quietly

Piper glared at her, "what about her?" she said, a cold rage settled in her tone.

"I know you think Paige was trying to hurt Prue, but I felt no negativity from her, no, I take that back, there was something there Piper, inside her, it made her attack those people" Phoebe explained.

"What like a" Piper gulped, "demon?" she asked.

"Not exactly, I could just feel some kind of emotional presence that wasn't hers, I've never felt or seen anything like it".

"I think she might need our help Piper".

"Phoebe, I want to help Paige as well, but right now Prue needs us" Piper said desperately.

Phoebe nodded, "she needs you".

"What does that mean?" Piper asked.

"Come on, its no secret, you and Prue have always been best friends, and I've always kind of felt like the odd one out" Phoebe said, almost guiltily.

"Phoebe if we've ever said or done anything that made you feel like you aren't our sister then I'm so sorry" Piper said, her eyes tearing up slightly.

"That's not it Piper, and I don't have a problem with it, its only natural that certain family members will get on better with others, but I feel like I have a real connection with Paige, I know you haven't spent a lot of time with her, but she reminds me a lot of me, but younger" Phoebe said sheepishly.

Piper nodded, "ok, go and find her, make sure she's ok, I'll tell Prue you went home to get some of her things".

Phoebe gave Piper a quick hug, "you're the best" and power walked away to the elevator.

"Where's Phoebe?" Prue asked as Piper returned.

"Oh, she just went home to pick some of your stuff, the doctor says you might be here for a few more days".

"Oh, that's nice of her, Piper, is something going on between you two?" Prue wondered.

Piper turned her face, not wanting give anything away, Prue was excellent at reading people.

"Piper" Prue said in that final tone she usually used when she wasn't impressed.

Piper sighed.

"The past month has been rough to be honest Prue, me and Phoebe….had differing opinions on what to do about your situation".

Prue raised her eye brows in expectation.

"Phoebe wanted to switch off your life support" Piper said, her eyes closing at the same time so she didn't have to see Prue's expression.

"I see" Prue said, sinking down into her pillow.

"I wanted to wait" Piper continued.

"Piper, I don't want you two to fall out, I was gone for a whole month, from what I can tell the neuro…." Prue looked downwards in confusion, not able to remember the term.

"The neurologist?" Piper suggested.

Prue nodded eagerly.

"He told me I should have died, that I had almost no chance, Phoebe is an emotional person, she probably didn't want to see me hooked up to a machine, maybe suffering for God knows how long, I understand why she wanted to switch off the support".

"You do?" Piper said, disbelief apparent in her voice.

Prue nodded, "for what its worth, if it had been you in this bed I would have sided with Phoebe".

"Well then thank God it was you" Piper said, half-joking.

Piper looked around, "hey, where did Will go?"

"I sent him back to his hotel for some sleep, the poor guy looked exhausted".

"He's been here every day for the past four weeks" Piper said.

Prue blushed and looked away.

Paige slammed her apartment door shut and sunk to the floor, she let the tears flow silently down, she didn't know what was going on, she remembered being at the apartment and finding Lucas' body, and then….nothing, her mind was totally blank, the next thing she knew she was in Prue's hospital room, orbing people up onto the ceiling. If Leo hadn't been there to calm her down then God knows what would have happened to those people, she shuddered.

She got up slowly and made her way over to the bathroom, maybe a shower would make her feel

better, all she knew was that Prue was awake, so thing couldn't be all that bad could they?

She would call for Leo later and explain what happened, maybe he could help her piece things together, he's been a whitelighter for a long time and had many charges, surely one of them had experienced random, unexplainable memory loss.

Twenty minutes later Paige felt a lot better, she'd had her shower and thrown on some pyjamas, she'd just sat down when a soft knock surprised her, someone was at her door.

"Paige?" Phoebe's voice called from the other side.

Paige bit her lip, she considered not answering, pretending she wasn't in.

"I know you're in there I can sense you".

Darn it.

She got up and made her way to the door, opening it a crack, Phoebe was there, a sad but gentle smile on her face.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

Paige nodded and let her in.

"I'll make coffee" Paige said, she was going to need it.

Prue laid in bed, looking up at the ceiling, she remembered everything about the ghostly plane, being on the run, but her brain was still foggy, she felt like she'd been told something important, but she just couldn't quite grasp it, she could taste it on her tongue, one thing for sure is she knew she couldn't sleep, she'd spent a month in this bed, she didn't want to be in it anymore.

She threw back the covers and made to stand up when the door to her room opened and Will walked in. Prue breathed in, taking in the sight, she had to admit, she'd forgotten what a babe he was. Wavy brown hair sat on a head with high cheekbones and soft blue eyes. He looked like a catalogue model.

"I'm glad you're awake" he said in that gentle British accent she loved.

"Piper said you've been here almost every day" Prue said quietly.

Will nodded, "how could I not be?"

Prue laid back down, she wasn't sure she was ready for this.

But she didn't want to waste anything, she'd learnt very recently that life could be so delicate, she was going to accept everything and anything that came her way if it was positive.

She reached out her hand and took a hold of Will's.

"Hold me?" she asked nervously.

Will eyes looked like a thousand fireworks had just been set off at once.

He shrugged off his jacket and laid down next to Prue, holding her against him gently. Within moments she had returned to sleep, despite not wanting to.

Phoebe's eyes widened, "you don't remember at all?"

Paige shook her head, she had told Phoebe everything that had happened, she hoped she'd believe her.

"I did sense something wrong inside you when we were at the hospital earlier" Phoebe said, sighing, putting her mug of coffee down.

"Give me your hands" she offered her own.

Paige looked warily.

"I'm an empath, I can sense emotions, feelings, maybe by using that in conjunction with my visions, I can get some kind of sense of what happened….help fill in the blanks?"

Paige sighed in relief, Phoebe believed her, she put down her own mug and held out her hands.

As soon as Phoebe grabbed hold she was put into some kind of trance.

Paige shook with nerves.

"It's ok sweetie, don't be worried, this won't hurt, I'm just trying to see" Phoebe explained.

Paige breathed out slowly and let Phoebe work her magic.

A moment later Phoebe shrieked in pain, knocking her mug off the arm of the couch.

Paige stood in panic, letting go of her hands.

"What's wrong?" she yelled at Phoebe.

"I don't know" Phoebe stammered out, "my head feels like someone is shoving shards of glass into it" she got out though gritted teeth.

Suddenly a large cascade or orbs appeared behind the couch, and slowly materialized into Piper and Leo.

"What are you doing here?" Paige asked quickly.

"I could feel Phoebe's pain" Leo said, hurriedly making his way around the couch to lay his healing hands on Phoebe.

"Hmph, figures you'd have something to do with this" Piper muttered.

Paige had had enough.

"You know what lady? If you say one more damn thing I will fling your sorry ass out of my apartment and onto the ground, try freezing that" Paige yelled, exhilarated at finally getting her emotions out.

Piper stood dumbfounded.

"How dare you! You endangered Prue and now you've got Phoebe in pain, what am I supposed to think?" Piper yelled back.

"Oh let's face it Piper, you've hated me from the moment you met me and I have no idea why, so whatever it is just get over it" Paige finished.

Piper momentarily looked offended and then walked around the couch to be with Leo and Phoebe.

"It's ok, I'm alright now" Phoebe said, slowly getting to her feet.

"What happened?" Piper asked quietly.

"We need to take Paige back to the manor" Phoebe said.

"What?!" Piper shouter in disbelief.

"There is something seriously wrong here Piper, I tried to use my power to work out what happened to Paige, why she turned off the machine, why she attacked those people, something compelled her to do it, I just can't figure out what" Phoebe explained quickly.

Paige folded her arms, giving Piper the smuggest face she could muster.

Piper rolled her eyes, "fine, but I still haven't told Prue about her yet".

"She'll be at the hospital another few days, we can deal with it then?" Leo offered.

"Pack some things Paige, we need to keep you safe for now" Phoebe said.

Paige nodded and walked to her bedroom to begin packing.

"Ae you sure this is a good idea?" Piper whispered.

"She's our sister Piper, and she needs our help, I told you at the hospital something was off and this just confirms it, something or someone made her to do what she did and took control".

"I'll go ask the elders while she packs" Leo said, orbing away.

The Angel of Destiny codenamed "D-3" looked down upon the Earth, and smirked.

"Things are going well I take it?" D-1 asked behind him.

"Oh yes, the sisters are taking Paige home, soon the power of three will be shattered, and there is nothing they can do to stop it".

End OF Chapter Twenty-Five, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-Six, "The High Priestess".


	26. The High Priestess

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-Six, "The High Priestess".

Prue sat in her hospital bed. Bored. She had been awake now for two days and she hadn't heard anything from Piper or Phoebe, just Leo orbing in with updates, updates for what? She had no idea what was going on, but she knew something was being hidden from her. Maybe Piper had finally lost it and killed Phoebe. Prue smirked, she shouldn't find that funny but she couldn't help it. Her sisters could be maddening, but she also knew she wouldn't want to live a day without them. They had been through so much, at least from her point of view nothing could break them now.

Will came in holding a tray, "breakfast time" he said, smiling.

Prue looked down at her plate glumly, it seemed to be the only dish the hospital staff knew how to make, bacon and eggs, and she was sick to the sight of it. Prue faked a cough and "accidentally" winked at the tray, smiling serenely as it went crashing to the ground.

"Oops, I can't believe how clumsy I am" Will said sheepishly.

"I'll get you some more" he said, making to leave.

"No wait!" Prue yelled.

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you what you can get me, you can get me the hell out of here!" she barked.

Piper knocked quietly on Paige's door, really it was Prue's door but since her older sister was currently at the hospital, her and Phoebe figure it couldn't hurt for her to stay in Prue's room for now. Secretly hoping Paige hadn't heard her she slowly turned around to walk away until she got an answer.

"Come in".

"Drat" Piper whispered.

She turned back around and opened the door, Paige was sat in front of the mirror, doing her make-up, Piper had to admit, though Paige didn't look much like her or her other sisters, she was beautiful, even without make-up.

"Piper, you're staring" Paige said.

Piper snapped out of it, "right, I thought you might be hungry, I bought you some muffins" she said, lowering the plate down onto the bed.

"Oh, thanks" Paige said awkwardly.

Piper felt guilty, with everything that had happened recently she'd almost forgotten about her main duty as a witch, to help the innocent, and like her or not, Paige was an innocent who needed her help. So she'd do it, if only to get her out of the house quicker.

"I know we didn't start off on the best of terms" Piper said quietly.

"Oh, you mean when you accused me of murdering Prue?" Paige asked innocently.

Piper rolled her eyes, Paige at least had inherited the Halliwell sarcasm gene.

"Let's not get into it, past is past after all right?" Piper asked hopefully.

Paige put down her brush and turned to Piper, "right" she said, smiling.

Paige breathed slowly, "honestly I'm relieved" she said.

"You are?" Piper wondered.

"I've been a witch for a few months now, and other than Phoebe I haven't really had anyone to share it with".

"Well now you have me and Phoebe, and soon Prue as well".

"God why is this book so useless!" Phoebe yelled in frustration as she shut the book of shadows.

"It's not the books fault it has nothing in it about what you might have seen" Leo said calmly.

"I know, but its infuriating because I really didn't see much of anything at all, just a lot of white".

"White?" Piper asked, coming up the attic stairs.

"Yeah, I mean, aside from the white hot pain I felt, actual white, like clouds and sky" Phoebe explained.

"Like up there?" Leo asked, looking upwards at the heavens.

"I'm not sure" Phoebe replied, irritated.

"And the elders don't know anything?" Piper asked Leo.

He shrugged, "they don't know what it could be, frankly they're more concerned about the changes that occurred with the book".

Phoebe looked down, it had been over a month since they'd come home and found the chandelier in ruins and a strange new point protruding out from the triquetra symbol on the book, she was still finding bits of glass on the floor, they had just assumed it was demons trashing the house but it seemed the elders weren't too sure.

"Could it have something to do with Paige?" Phoebe asked suddenly.

"The book?" Leo asked.

Phoebe nodded, "I mean, it looks like a fourth point is trying to emerge, and there were only ever supposed to be three Charmed Ones right?"

"But she isn't a Charmed One is she?" Piper queried.

"No, she can't be, at least not an active one, I imagine if one of you were to die then she could take your place if the bond were strong enough, but not before" Leo attempted to explain.

"But what if this fourth point is representing the fourth sister? Perhaps one that isn't supposed to be here?" Phoebe wondered, just trying to get her thoughts out.

"Well she's here, so we'll just have to deal with it" Piper said.

Paige sighed, she had spent the last couple of days in a sort of flux, stuck in the Manor under the watchful eye of her sisters, it still felt odd saying she had sisters, right now she really only thought of Phoebe as maybe a sort of, kind of sister, Piper had made a nice gesture this morning, but she still wasn't sure, it would be difficult to catch up or try and assimilate into their lives, they've spent near enough thirty years together, growing up together, bonding, and she'd known about them for a couple of months. She still had other family, an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Sacramento, but she didn't see them often.

Leo often spoke of destiny, but what was hers exactly? To be The Charmed Ones brat sister? The odd one out? The one outside the power of three? She just couldn't put her finger on it, she just felt as though she didn't belong. Perhaps it was natural to feel that way, but in the end only time would be able to tell.

Paige threw on a pair of sandals and left Prue's room, making her way up towards the attic, as she got closer she could hear people talking, she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"But what if this fourth point is representing the fourth sister? Perhaps one that isn't supposed to be here?" Paige heard Phoebe say.

"Well she's here, so we'll just have to deal with it" Piper answered.

Paige turned away, she knew it, and now they knew it, she didn't belong. She went back to the room and slammed the door behind her. Turning the lock, she needed to be alone for now.

Phoebe sat in the attic, looking through a box of old photo albums. There, she had finally found it, a picture of her mom and Piper when she was little, the date on the back read 1977, Phoebe was two, but her mother, Patty, still looked pregnant, at least five or six months, how did they not notice? Were their memories altered like when little Prue's and little Pipers were when Grams bound their powers? There was only one way to find out, she had seen their mother giving birth to Paige in a vision, and she could sense her heartbreak at having to give her up.

"Mom!" Phoebe yelled up at the ceiling,

"I want to talk to you, get your butt down here"

Phoebe waited a moment, and sucked in a breath, ready to yell again when a series of little white orbs began to gather in the attic, forming a figure, it was Patty.

"Hello sweetheart, usually I wouldn't just be able to come and go like this, but the elders felt you deserved an explanation".

"Oh you think?" Phoebe asked sarcastically.

"Where are your sisters?" Patty wondered.

"Prue is at the hospital, Piper went to get groceries and Paige….." Phoebe looked down.

"Paige, I want more than anything to see her" Patty said sadly.

"I'll get her, but then you got some 'splaining to do" Phoebe grumbled, walking around the ghost and down the stairs to Prue's room.

Five minutes later Phoebe was back, with Paige.

"Oh my goodness" Patty whispered, her hands going to her mouth in shock.

"Is that a ghost?" Paige hissed at Phoebe.

"Don't worry sweetie, this is a good one" Phoebe smiled.

"Paige, my God you are just gorgeous" Patty said quietly, tears filling her incorporeal eyes.

"Phoebe who is this?" Paige wondered, a confused expression on her face.

"I'm your mother".

Paige raised a hand to her mouth, she looked at Patty who had just done the same thing, guess gestures were genetic.

"Phoebe wanted me to explain to her, and to you, what happened all those years ago, and why giving you up tore me apart from the inside" Patty stammered out.

"We're listening" Phoebe said quietly.

Patty nodded, regaining her composure.

"I met Victor when I was very young, not even 21 yet, but he was handsome, had a good job, kind, everything a woman could want, and then I got pregnant with Prue, and I still hadn't told him I was a witch".

Paige looked at Phoebe in surprise.

"He didn't know?" she asked.

Patty shook her head, "it was selfish of me I know, I just didn't want to lose him".

Patty continued.

"Shortly after giving birth the elders sent me a whitelighter, a man named Sam, he was my guide, like Leo is for you girls. But I began to have feelings for Sam, the kind the elders warned against, and so I ignored them and carried on with Victor, a year later I fell pregnant with Piper, and everything seemed to be going alright, me and Victor were reconnecting, but it didn't last" Patty paused, her eyes tearing up.

"Soon after me and Victor got into a big fight over the magic, I had finally told him, he wanted you girls raised as normal mortals, me and your Grams wanted you raised as witches, so Victor left and got a room at a local hotel, but soon after I discovered I was already pregnant with Phoebe" Patty's eyes lit up as she looked at Phoebe.

"So Victor came back, it was a volatile, vulnerable relationship, and then there was Sam" Patty now looked at Paige.

"Throughout the whole thing he comforted me, helped me, always by my side when I needed him, and in a moment of weakness I slept with him, at the time I felt horribly guilty, and so I confessed to Victor, and he left San Francisco for a while, a few weeks after that, I found out I was pregnant again, with you Paige" Patty said, a gentle smile playing on her sad face.

"Then what happened?" Phoebe pushed.

"I hid the pregnancy as best I could, it was easy to convince you young girls I was a little fat, and when either Prue or Piper questioned it Grams worked some of her forgetful magic".

"Yeah we hear she used to be real good at that" Phoebe mocked.

"She meant well, even though her methods could have used some fine tuning" Patty admitted.

"And?" Paige piped up.

"Around seven months later I gave birth to you in this very room, Sam was by my side, but the elders couldn't be trusted, we'd heard talk of other charges falling for their whitelighters, and then being severely punished, we feared what they might do to a little baby if they got their hands on you".

Patty let out a deep breath, though Paige realized she probably didn't need to, it must have been more of a reflex.

"After that I was heartbroken, we gave you to a local church, a nice nun took you in and swore she'd find you a nice family".

"Sister Agnes?" Paige asked, her eyes watering.

Patty nodded, "and from what I could tell, she found you a wonderful family" Patty said gently.

Paige nodded, "she did".

"You didn't know you were a witch because when Grams bound the girls' powers she updated the spell to include you, we couldn't do anything to block your whitelighter abilities but we knew we could block your witchcraft and make you more undetectable to the elders".

"And a year later, I was killed by a demon, by then I had grown reckless, I didn't care for my safety as much as I should have, the truth is Paige, losing you killed me, not literally, but emotionally, I had no regard for my own well-being, I couldn't stop thinking about you, what you might be doing, where you were, I couldn't scry for you because your witch powers were bound".

"I was broken" she finished sadly.

Phoebe was in tears, she'd had no idea what kind of effect this might have had on her mother.

"I could have been more careful the day I died, I stupidly froze Sam, he was coming to orb me out of danger, but I didn't listen, and thus, I sealed my fate".

"I'm sorry, I have to go" Paige said in tears, running towards the door.

"Paige wait!" Phoebe called.

Paige ran through Patty and to the door.

And found Prue on the other side.

Phoebe gasped.

"Someone better tell me what the hell is going on" she demanded, looking furious.

"She's our sister?!" Prue asked, yelling.

Phoebe nodded meekly.

"Why didn't you say anything? Does Piper know?"

Phoebe looked down.

"So I'm the last to know, great, thanks for sharing Phoebs" Prue said coldly.

"Ok, in my defence Prue, you've been in a coma".

"I've been awake for almost three days!" she barked.

"And me and Piper didn't want to cause you any sort of stress, maybe that was selfish of us, but we didn't know if you were strong enough to handle it yet".

Phoebe looked around, she had dragged Prue down to the living room, Will seemed to have made himself scarce, probably a good idea all things considered.

"But she was there, throughout the demon invasion, you kept her safe" Prue said, thinking things through.

"How long have you known?"

"A few months, I found out when we each went on our little quest, I had a vision of mom giving birth to a fourth daughter, and with everything that was going on I just couldn't tell you guys" Phoebe said, her eyes pleading with Prue to understand.

Prue loosed a breath.

"This is so com, com….." she looked at Phoebe, her eyes going fuzzy.

"Complicated?" Phoebe suggested quietly.

Prue nodded, "yeah".

"And she needs our help?" Prue asked.

"Yeah, something was controlling her Prue, something….different, I just can't figure out what".

"Ok then, I want to meet her" Prue said determinedly.

"Do you want to wait for Piper?" Phoebe asked.

"No, I'll go alone".

Paige was looking through the book of shadows, she felt pretty empty right now, after hearing Patty's (she refused to call her mom) story, she had understood why she had to be adopted, but it still didn't make her feel any less abandoned. Her sisters had been having a great life here in a nice house with good opportunities, and she had to do it all by herself, she wouldn't have had it any other way, but she couldn't help but feel slightly bitter.

"Hey" Paige looked up, Prue had walked back into the attic.

Paige braced herself as Prue walked up to her.

And threw her arms around her.

Paige stood stock still in shock.

"Thank you for saving my life" she said.

"Your life?" Paige wondered.

"Phoebe told me you orbed me out of the water when we were on the bridge?"

"Oh yeah, of course, don't mention it, I couldn't just let you die" Paige said, smiling.

"Well I have to say, that was a much warmer welcome than I got from Piper".

Prue smiled, "Piper can be hard to get to know, but she has the biggest heart of all of us".

"I know you might feel a little awkward, but I want to get to know you, besides, how bad can having another little sister to boss around be?" Prue said, winking.

"So are you like our high priestess?" Paige wondered.

"Um…" Prue stood, stupefied.

"Well, I've been reading about witchcraft, and it seemed the oldest is always in charge, kind of like a high priestess in a coven" Paige explained.

"Oh right, yes I am definitely the boss" Prue said with faux seriousness.

Piper pulled up outside the manor, finally back from getting groceries, as she walked up the steps with her bags she noticed someone on the front porch, Will.

"What's up?" Piper asked him, worried.

"Oh nothing, I just didn't really want to be inside when the nuclear bomb went off" he joked.

Piper frowned, "huh?"

"Well Prue wanted to come home so…." He stopped as he noticed Piper's expression.

"She's inside?" Piper asked in a hushed voice.

Will nodded slowly.

"Oh crap" Piper said throwing the door open, preparing for all-out war, but stopped, her sisters, now all three of them, were sitting on the couch, chatting.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously.

"We're just getting to know each other better, come sit" Phoebe said patting the space next to her.

"And you're all ok? No serious injuries?"

"Piper, we're grown women, I'm just a little hurt you and Phoebe felt you couldn't tell me" Prue said nonchalantly.

"Sorry about that" she said, plonking herself down next to Phoebe.

"We're all in this together ok?" Prue clarified.

The girls nodded and held hands.

And at that moment a large banging noise sounded from upstairs, and the manor began to shake.

End of Chapter Twenty-Six, stay tuned for Chapter-Twenty Seven, "Angels Awaken".


	27. Angels Awaken

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-Seven, "Angels Awaken".

"What is happening?! Paige shrieked as the manor shook violently.

All four of them stood suddenly when the bang from upstairs had sounded and were now looking at each other dumbfounded, trying to keep their balance.

"Paige orb us upstairs" Phoebe said loudly, trying to be heard over the sound of things tumbling off shelves and clattering to the floor.

Paige grabbed Phoebe's hand and the two immediately were flung from each other onto the opposite sides of the living room.

"Ouch, what the hell was that?!" Phoebe asked angrily, getting to her feet.

"Prue? Prue? Are you ok?" They could hear Will's voice from outside.

They could see the doorknob turning but the door wasn't opening.

Prue ran over to it, "I'm ok, just a little magical mishap, we'll be ok, promise" she said.

Prue staggered back to the other girls.

"Paige, try orbing me instead" Prue suggested.

Paige did as Prue asked and reached her hand out, the two were flung away from each other the same way.

"This is just bizarre!" Piper yelled over the noise.

"Let's just run upstairs instead" Phoebe said.

The four girls ran from the living room, and with some difficulty tried to make it upstairs, it didn't seem like the manor was in any danger of collapsing, there were no signs of degradation or cracks in the walls, it was just shaking uncontrollably.

They finally made it into the attic, and the source of the shaking was immediately apparent.

The book of shadows was on its lectern, glowing a bright, flaming red colour, the pages flipping back and forth.

Piper reached for the book and a bolt of electricity flew out and hit her square in the chest.

"Oh my God" Prue said flinging her arm at the old couch across the room to catch Piper, unfortunately it did not catch Piper who went crashing to the floor, but moved across the room about two inches instead.

Phoebe went to grab Piper, "no don't touch me" she yelled as Phoebe approached, "I'm fine".

"Piper try and freeze the book" Prue suggested.

Piper nodded and held up her hands, nothing changed.

"Maybe a power of three spell?" Phoebe asked.

Prue and Piper nodded and the three sisters took a tentative step towards the book.

They stood a small distance away from each other and begun to chant:

"The power of three will set us free,

The power of three will set us free".

Slowly the colour of the book seemed to be dulling, and the violent earthquake ripping through their house was calming, until eventually after a few minutes, everything had stopped.

Paige put her hands up to her ears, flicking them, trying to rid them of the dissonant ringing.

The other girls stood still, breathing heavily, their foreheads pasted with sweat.

Prue took a step towards the book and gasped, it was blank.

"It can't be" Piper murmured, seeing Prue turn the pages.

"But how?" Phoebe said sadly.

"Its like when we relinquished our powers" Prue said, turning every page carefully, trying to figure out what was going on.

Prue looked up suddenly and waved her arm at the same couch as before, seeing if anything had changed, it hadn't, it barely even moved an inch now.

Phoebe, seeing what happened, jumped off the ground, levitated about two feet for all of a second before landing back on her feet with a small stomp.

"Freeze this" Prue told Piper, picking up an old cassette tape from a shelf, she threw it in the air, Piper held her hands up and the tape froze in slow motion for a second before landing on the floor with a small bump.

Phoebe turned to Paige, "orb that tape to you" she said, pointing at it.

Paige nodded, "tape" she said with determination.

The tape was surrounded by orbs and started to move towards Paige, but stopped after three feet and fell out of the air, not even halfway to its caller.

"So let me guess this straight" Piper said, her eyes wide with fear.

"Our book has been erased, our powers are basically gone and we have a mysterious evil out there trying to get us?"

"That about sums it up" Prue said glumly, walking over to the couch and collapsing in it with a huff.

"So what do we do now?" Phoebe asked, biting her nails at the same time.

"What can we do?" Piper asked rhetorically, walking over to Prue and collapsing next to her.

"Well at least we can sit together now" she said.

"You guys can't just give up" Paige said disbelievingly.

"Why not?" Piper asked.

"Because you guys are the charmed ones!" Paige said enthusiastically.

"The most powerful good witches of all time! I've seen you survive and get through a demon apocalypse, survive comas, heard stories about you becoming banshees and travelling to different times, and you're going to let this defeat you?" Paige asked, her eye brow raised, her hand on her hip.

"Paige is right" Prue said, standing.

"We can't just do nothing, we've had this happen before, our powers gone, our book gone, we got through it then and we'll get through it now" she said, nodding, smiling at Paige.

Paige blushed and nodded back.

"Yeah, and its not like our powers are totally gone, they still work a little, we just need to try and work with what we have" Phoebe said.

"And that is?" Piper asked pessimistically.

"We still have each other, and we can still cast spells right? The power of three spell we just did worked ok" Phoebe pointed out.

At that moment Phoebe's cell phone began to buzz.

"Huh" she murmured to herself as she freed it from her pocket.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Uh-hmm, yeah, okay I'll be there in an hour" she said, ending the call.

"Are you kidding me, you're going?" Piper asked.

"It was the police station, they want me to come in for something, they didn't say what, besides, it might be a good thing for us to be apart for a few hours" Phoebe said, walking out the attic door.

"So much for having each other" Paige said sarcastically.

Prue and Piper burst out laughing.

"She is definitely our sister" Prue said, giggling.

"I'm beginning to see it" Piper concurred.

Phoebe was on her way to the police station, she hoped Piper didn't mind her borrowing her car, the truth was she had wanted to leave, she had gotten a really bad feeling in that attic, the same type of feeling she'd had when she had sensed Paige at the hospital, though this time the feeling hadn't come from Paige, it had just surrounded the entire room, the book, her sisters, all of it, and it was nice to get away for a while and think, even if it was to the police station.

She hadn't been there since Darryl had died, she didn't think she could face walking back through and seeing his desk occupied by someone else, it had been hard enough when Andy had died.

Fifteen minutes later and Phoebe left the car in the police station parking lot and walked through the entrance, unsure of where to go.

She walked past reception and down towards the Captain's room, she felt awkward and purposely turned her face away from Darryl's old desk.

"Ms Halliwell?" a voice from behind asked.

Phoebe had no choice but to turn around, she faced a person she hadn't seen before, but was sitting at Darryl's desk, this must be his replacement.

"Yes?" Phoebe asked.

The woman stood up, Phoebe held in a breath, this was a beautiful woman, long, curly dark hair, chocolate brown, intelligent eyes and a curvy figure most girls could only dream of.

Phoebe caught herself, "I'm not in any trouble am I officer?"

The woman shook her head, "not at all, sorry I didn't make it clear on the phone, my name is Kyra Carpenter, I'm the new detective here, and I wanted to talk to you about a job offer".

"You sure you don't want me to help?" Will asked for the fifth time on the front porch.

"No, you've been absolutely amazing, thank you for everything" Prue said, her head buried in his chest as they cuddled.

"We'll figure it out" she said determinedly.

"I know you will" Will said, sighing.

"I just wish I could help more".

"You can help me by going back to your hotel and getting some sleep, you didn't have those bags before my accident" Prue said, her observant behaviour making Will giggle.

"Ok" he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Call me if you need anything".

And with that he turned around and walked down the steps to his hire car.

Prue sighed and walked back in, she should probably check on Paige and Piper who were probably throttling each other right now, from what she could tell the two hadn't really hit it off yet though she had seen that the ice was beginning to crack a little.

She was curious as to why Phoebe had rushed off, she seemed a little out of sorts, she supposed they all were, Leo had been most distressed when they had shown him the book, for some reason he thought healing the book might help but it remained blank. He'd orbed off to the elders to see if they knew anything but she doubted it, if there was a word she could use to describe their current situation it would be unpre….she tried to think….unprecedented! A smile lit her face as she remembered, perhaps the doctor was right after all and she would get better in time.

She walked into the kitchen and saw Piper and Paige behind the counter, making some kind of concoction.

"What are you doing?" she asked them, surprised to see the working together on something.

"Well Paige had the excellent idea that we should make some potions, now that our powers aren't working that well we'll have to rely on other areas of our magic to make up for it" Piper said.

Paige blushed and said quickly.

"Besides, I thought I'd get this opportunity to learn some potions, I haven't even seen one made before, and Phoebe always said Piper was the expert".

Piper smiled and threw in some kind of herb to the mixture.

"And this one is for?" Prue asked.

"Explosions" Piper said happily.

"I've already got a transport potion cooling over there" Piper said, pointing to another pot on the table.

"Transport potion?" Prue wondered.

"Well since Paige can't use her orbing I thought maybe we could come up with something to replicate it somewhat, in case she needs to escape" Piper said nonchalantly.

Prue's expression must have been written on her face for Piper piped up, "what?!"

"I'm just happy you are doing something to help Paige" Prue replied earnestly.

Paige blushed again, she did that a lot Prue noted.

She hadn't noticed her other sisters do that, it must come from Sam she thought, taking a seat at the table and wracking her brains, trying to think of what she could do to contribute.

She got up quickly and told her sisters she was going upstairs to think, but she had a much better idea in mind.

Prue had a good memory, maybe not so much lately, but she remembered spells, and she remembered the one she wanted to use.

She marched into the attic, took five white candles from the shelf and placed them around the circular rug, matching the circular shape.

She took a deep breath, shut her eyes and chanted.

"Hear these words, hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now the great divide".

She opened her eyes, she felt the familiar chill in the air as her magic worked, bringing forth the spirit she desired an audience with.

Orbs began to swirl in the circle until they coalesced and sprung away, leaving the ghostly figure looking most unimpressed before her.

"You!" The Seer spat.

Prue smiled, "nice to see you again".

"What did you call me up from hell for you insignificant nag?" The Seer demanded.

"Whoa, ok, were you summoned from the wrong side of the bed or what?" Prue asked, stunned.

She got no answer so continued, no need to beat around the bush.

"Someone, or something is after us, but all the demons are gone, and I think you might know something".

"Me? What could I know?" The Seer asked, a devilish smile on her lips as she took great satisfaction in knowing something Prue didn't.

"Please, just tell me" Prue asked urgently.

"I don't know, I quite like the sound of your begging, like music to my ears after all this time" she said wistfully.

"It's only been like five weeks you know" Prue pointed out.

"Really? Well for me its been decades, they like to torture you a lot in hell" she said nonchalantly.

"Come on" Prue pressed.

"Whoever it is, didn't help you in the end did they?" she asked.

A look of rage quickly passed over The Seer's face before settling back to neutral.

"I cannot say, they can reach me, even here".

"They?" Prue asked.

"How many are we talking?"

"I would say they are infinite in number" The Seer said slowly.

Prue dropped to the floor in shock.

"But how are we supposed to beat that?"

"Its not my problem, now release me back to damnation, I cannot stand to be in your presence any longer" The Seer said abruptly.

Prue just sat, staring at one of the candles.

The Seer sighed, taking pity on Prue, "fine, if you want a hint…"

Prue's head jerked up, eager to listen.

"Then just pay attention to your destiny".

"Thank you" Prue said begrudgingly.

She crawled over to the closest candle and blew it out, ending the spell, The Seer disappearing back to hell.

Pay attention to your destiny, what was that supposed to mean?

"Leo!" she yelled.

"A job? What kind of job?" Phoebe asked, surprise in her tone.

Kyra looked back over her desk, "don't look so shocked, can I call you Phoebe?" she asked.

Phoebe nodded and took a seat on the other side of the desk.

"It feels weird sitting here" she said, sighing.

"Yeah, you were friends with Morris right? I met him a few times, he was a great detective" Kyra said, searching the desk draws for something.

"Here" she said with glee, pulling a stack of papers out and handing them over to Phoebe.

"Um…." She said, gazing at the words.

"Police counsellor?" she asked aloud.

Kyra nodded, "there's a letter of recommendation there at the back from Morris, he thought you were perfect once the position came up, he just didn't have chance to say anything I guess".

A smile spread over Phoebe's face, the chance to help people, perhaps destiny was guiding her in the right direction.

"You wouldn't just be helping the police, you'd be talking with criminals as well, seeing if they need help, if they're in actual trouble, that sort of thing" Kyra explained.

"The pay isn't great but…." She started.

"I'm in" Phoebe said, slamming the contract down on Kyra's desk.

A smile lit Kyra's whole face, her eyes bright, she really was beautiful Phoebe thought, she shook her head out of her stupor and continued

"When do I start?" she asked eagerly.

"As soon as your pretty signature is on that dotted line" Kyra said, pointing to the bottom of the page.

"Ok" Phoebe said, scribbling on the paper.

She handed it back to Kya, "awesome" she said, putting it back in her draw, "I'll get this processed and you start next Monday?" she said, a slight questioning tone to her voice at the end.

Phoebe nodded, "absolutely, I'm so excited".

Kyra looked at her watch, "oops, I gotta go, see you Monday Phoebe" she said, grabbing her bag and marching away.

That was kind of weird Phoebe thought, she looked up at the clock, it was only 11am, where could she be going? Phoebe shook her head, of course it was none of her business, she made her way out of the station and back to the car. Ready to tell her sisters some good news for a change.

"Gab…I mean, D-1, what is the status of the plan?" D-3 asked her.

"Did you just almost use my real name?" she questioned, rage in her eyes as she regarded her fellow angel.

"Forgive me, I am still getting used to these false monikers" he stuttered back.

D-1 seemed content and turned back to survey the realm below.

"As expected the sisters are trying to come up with alternatives, but it is no use, soon we will be able to enter their realm as one, and when we do that, their destiny will be shredded".

End of Chapter Twenty-Seven, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-Eight, "Normality Strikes".


	28. Normality Strikes

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-Eight, "Normality Strikes".

"You sure you're ready?" Piper asked her older sister.

"Of course I am" Prue answered, staring in her mirror at her outfit.

The sixth one she had changed into, Piper noted.

"There is no shame in taking a few more weeks, Mr Corso will understand" Piper said sympathetically.

"Piper, I'm nervous, but I'm ready, why don't you go help Phoebe? She's been pacing back and forth for hours".

"Paige is with her, she'll be fine, she was born to help people, she could give advice in her sleep" Piper said.

Prue nodded in agreement, "its just, I feel ready but I still feel anxious, with everything that's been going on recently, it feels strange to just go back to work".

Piper picked up Prue's bag for her, "first, you look gorgeous, second, I think work is what you need, I think a little bit of normality is what we all need right now".

Prue seemed to agree and took her bag, "wish me luck?" she asked sincerely.

"You don't need it, but I wish you good luck anyway" Piper said, smiling.

Prue returned the smile and left her room, off to work she went.

As she walked downstairs she thought about the last week, her and her sisters, including Paige had just lounged around, and been absolute pigs, revelling in not being at work and getting to know each other once again. It had been like a little cocoon of safety and love, and now it was cracking and they were going back out into the wild.

Prue still hadn't told them she had contacted The Seer, she had made Leo promise not to say anything, she knew she would get crap from her sisters for that, especially since she had been so angry at Phoebe that one time when she lied to them about vanquishing Cole and swearing Leo to secrecy, but that had been a much bigger issue at the time.

Prue got into her car and gazed into the mirror, her raven hair had gotten very long, what with her being in a coma and bonding, she hadn't really had time to do anything with it, so she had just gathered it into a tight, high ponytail, the look complimenting her sharp cheekbones, that's what Paige had said anyway. She found that she was really growing to like Paige, she wouldn't say she loved her yet, after all these things take time, she definitely cared for her though, and would fiercely protect her as well as she would her other sisters.

Whatever had been plaguing the book of shadows seemed to have died down, it still had that strange shape on the cover and their powers were still wonky, but they weren't being flung from each other anymore, which was a plus.

Prue still couldn't believe the world had forgotten, when she awoke she had expected the news to be out, magic was real! But no, the elders had worked some kind of trickery and cleaned the mess up, making everyone forget, people thought the damage to the city had been done by a massive earthquake, which was pretty believable given their city's history with natural disasters, but it was still pretty jarring.

Prue pulled up to work and got out her car, this was going to be a long day she thought as she entered the 415 building, she hoped she hadn't lost her touch.

"Prue! You're back!" someone squealed behind her.

She turned, it was Rachel, one of the secretaries upstairs on Prue's floor, she was lovely.

Prue hugged her and thanked her for her card, she had received many whilst at the hospital, she had a big stack on her bedside table.

"Yep, I'm back" she said in reply.

"Thank God is all I have to say" Rachel said.

She was a short, fairly plump young girl with strawberry blond hair and bright blue eyes, always eager and happy to help people.

"What do you mean by that?" Prue wondered.

Rachel gulped, "well, since you went on hiatus, Margot was given a promotion"

Prue groaned, not her, Margot was this up and coming photographer from New York who had joined the magazine a few months ago, very full of herself and very unlikeable.

"Right?!" Rachel said in reply.

"Don't worry Rachel, now I'm back she won't know what hit her".

"Um, but there's something you should know…" Rachel trailed off as Prue opened the door to her office.

And found Margot sitting on one side with a desk and chair of her very own.

"What the hell is she doing in here?" Prue turned to Rachel.

"Nice to see you back roomie" Margot sneered.

"I have to share an office with her?" Prue said angrily.

"Its not my fault!" Rachel said quickly, running off to her desk.

Prue thundered to her desk and plonked her bag down on top of it, she was furious, if this being her first day back wasn't bad enough, she had to deal with that evil know it all as well.

"Heard you bumped your head pretty bad during the earthquake" she piped up behind Prue.

"I can see where it dented your head I think" Margot said, making a show of squinting her eyes at Prue's forehead.

"I can squint too" Prue muttered, squinting and making Margot's chair wobble slightly, she screamed and hurriedly stood.

"What the heck?" she said, looking toward Prue.

"Must be another earthquake" Prue said innocently.

She may not have much power now, but she had enough to do that, she knew she would pay for that later with the whole personal gain rule, but quite frankly as far as Prue was concerned, Margot might as well have been a demon.

This was going to be a very long day she thought, sinking into her chair.

Piper was in the car with Leo, they were driving to a place Piper had been dreading for weeks, an adoption agency, she'd discussed things over with her doctor, and he had told her she just wasn't a good fit for IVF, and so this was essentially their last option. Leo had made the appointment weeks ago, whilst Prue had been comatose.

Piper wasn't enthused, she just didn't feel right about the whole situation, she wanted a child, but she wanted her own child, the chance to pass down her magic, that's what she had seen in the future, and for whatever reason, it didn't seem like it was going to come to pass. She turned quickly towards the window and wiped away an escaped tear.

Leo, seeming to sense Piper's uncertainty, placed his hand over Piper's, "honey, you can do this, remember, we're just getting a feel for it, no kind of decision has to be made today" he said gently.

Piper nodded, "I know, I guess….I feel like I've lost something Leo, something that's been taken away from us, you weren't there in the future, but I was, I saw our little girl, and she was beautiful".

"Well, the future is obviously more fluid than we thought, this isn't the only thing that's changed, there was no Paige in that future, Prue was still at Buckland's, and Phoebe was being convicted for murder" he pointed out.

Piper sighed, she knew he had a point, but it didn't make this any easier. They pulled into a parking space and got out, Piper surveyed the building, it was bright and inviting, everything you could want from an adoption agency, but she still felt something niggle at the back of her mind.

"Come on" Leo said, holding his hand out.

"If you don't like it we can walk straight back out, no expectations".

"Deal" Piper said, taking his hand and smiling, trust Leo to always make her feel better.

A short time later Piper and Leo were waiting to be seen, the waiting room had dozens of family portraits, successful adoptions she assumed, they all looked happy, though she knew looks could be deceiving.

"Did you tell any of your sisters about this?" Leo wondered.

Piper shook her head and was about to answer when the door in front of them opened, "Mr and Mrs Halliwell?" a short, dumpy woman asked, holding a file.

"Yes, that's us" Piper said, taking the woman's outstretched hand.

"Please do come in" she asked.

"My name is Charlotte, please take a seat" she advised.

Piper felt like she was in the principal's office, not that she had ever been at school, Phoebe was the one more likely to have been sitting in a room like this.

"So you're interested in adoption" Charlotte began.

"Are you sure? Have you thought things through properly?" she asked.

"We are still a little unsure if we're honest" Leo said.

"No, that's good, this is a huge decision, its good to have doubts, maybe I can ease those for you" she said, smiling.

"We adopt maybe around five hundred children every year from the California state, people who aren't able to take care of their children, those who have lost their children, and those who just don't want them but couldn't bring themselves to terminate" Charlotte explained.

"You understand this is a long process, we need to make sure the children end up in a safe, nurturing environment".

The two nodded.

"So I'll ask you something, why do you want to adopt?"

"Honestly, I wasn't keen on the idea, but I know we both definitely want children, and sadly I can't have them" Piper explained.

Charlotte nodded, "so this is your only option?"

Leo added, "that doesn't mean we wouldn't love an adopted child, we just want to make sure it's the right fit for us".

"Well, I think you guys need to take some time and think, do you want to adopt because you really want to give a parentless child a good life? Or do you want to adopt because there are no other ways you can have children?"

Leo and Piper stared back blankly, unsure of how to answer.

"I'll tell you what, you take these" she handed over a bunch of booklets and pamphlets.

"Do your research and come back if you decide in favour".

"You ok?" Leo asked a few moments later when they were back in the car.

"Yeah, I guess I just feel like so much has happened recently, and with this new being after us is now really the right time for this?"

"You can't think like that Piper, it could never be the right time, and for all we know there might always be something after you" Leo said.

"Well that's comforting" she murmured.

"Did you ever think about asking Paige? Leo wondered.

"Paige?"

"Well yeah, she was adopted, she might be able to give you some insight".

"Good idea" Piper said, cursing herself for not thinking of asking Paige already.

Prue sat in the conference room, Mr Corso was giving an important meeting on an upcoming project, some supermodel wanted her 21st birthday shoot done by 415, just what Prue wanted, to photograph a vapid, narcissistic child. She knew she was being extreme, she was just in a bad mood, Margot had not shut up all morning, talking about all the work she had been doing whilst Prue was away, all the great shoots she had gotten to do, Prue just wanted to throw a chair at her head.

"So, I want our best and brightest working on this, Prue, Margot, you two will team up?" he asked, but it was definitely more of an order.

"Mr Corso wait!" she yelled, hurrying to catch him.

"You doing ok?" he asked her, slight worry creasing his face.

"Yes, I just wanted to say I'm fine to do this one alone, no need to work with anybody" she beamed him her most charming smile.

It didn't work.

"Prue, I want you to settle back in slowly, besides, Margot can take some of the pressure off you, let her" he said pointedly, patting her shoulder and walking back to his office.

Prue's shoulders slumped, this meant she would have to be working one to one with Margot for at least the next week, she should just quit now and put herself out of her misery.

"Well I guess we're partners now" a shrill voice sounded from behind her.

"1….2….3" Prue whispered slowly before turning around.

"Yeah" she said to Margot with highly false enthusiasm.

"Well, we better get started, this is a big shoot, I'd hate for you to fall behind on your first day back" she said with a smirk and stalked off back to their office.

Prue marched after her, about to give her a peace of her mind when her cell phone started to vibrate.

"What's up Piper?" she asked, seeing the caller ID.

"You free for lunch?"

Prue looked towards the office door, "definitely".

"I hate her!" Prue spat, stabbing her chopstick down into an innocent piece of sushi, Piper looking on very bemused.

"What?" Prue asked, stuffing the fish into her mouth.

"I've just never seen you so riled up before over a workmate".

"Well, you haven't worked with this one, and if there's one thing I've learnt from Will its that this woman is definitely not my "mate".

Piper looked around, they had come to a nice Japanese café that specialized in sushi, a food they had come to love.

"Well, there's something I should tell you" Piper said with trepidation.

"Oh God what is it?" Prue moaned, putting her chopstick down.

"Me and Leo visited an adoption agency this morning".

Prue squealed, "tell me everything!" she also whacked Piper on the arm for not telling her.

"I just didn't want to get anyone's hopes up is all".

"Why didn't you just ask Paige?" Prue suggested.

Piper frowned, "Leo said that too, I'm such a moron".

Prue nodded silently in agreement.

"I don't think its gonna work out anyway" Piper said sadly.

"What? Why?" Prue asked.

"It just didn't seem like a good fit" Piper shrugged.

"That's a shame, what are you guys gonna do now?" Prue wondered.

"No idea" Piper said, taking a bite of sushi.

An hour Later Prue strolled back into the office, she hated being slow but she purposefully dragged her feet back to her office. And it was empty, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat in her chair. And realised immediately that something was wrong.

The desk and chair on the opposite side were gone, did Margot get her own office now?  
Furious, Prue stalked out and over to Mr Corso's room.

She threw open the door.

"Seriously? That skank gets her own room? Only a month after her promotion? It took me a year to get my office!" she yelled.

Mr Corso looked at her, confusion clouding his face, "huh?" he asked.

"Oh don't play dumb, I'm talking about Margot!" Prue almost yelled at him again, the nerve.

"Who is Margot?" Mr Corso asked.

"Prue, do you need some more time off?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh, no, sorry, just got some mixed communication, as you were" she said, backing out of the office.

What on Earth was going on? She spotted Rachel across reception.

"Hey, so what happened to Margot?" Prue asked, sidling up to her.

"Who?" Rachel asked, her blank expression not betraying any kind of untruth.

Prue turned away and looked back into her open office, what the hell had happened in the hour she had been gone?

"Was the test successful D-4?" D-1 asked her comrade.

He nodded eagerly, "the woman's destiny has been altered, and it seems Prue still remembers her, whilst nobody else does".

"Excellent" D-1 said, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

"Just what I wanted to hear".

End of Chapter Twenty-Eight, stay tuned for Chapter Twenty-Nine, "Normality Strikes Again".


	29. Normality Strikes Again

Charmed Reborn Chapter Twenty-Nine, "Normality Strikes Again".

Phoebe paced back and forth around her bedroom, her hands tingling with anticipation, she sat down on the edge of her bed, then immediately stood back up, who was she kidding? She was terrified, her first real day on the job actually giving people advice, talking through their problems, seeing how she could help, she wasn't ready. She suddenly felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders, squeezing lightly, she looked up, she had almost forgotten Paige was here.

"You are going to be amazing" she said slowly.

Phoebe huffed, "you don't know that" Phoebe said glumly.

Paige nodded, "I do so, I haven't known you a long time, but I know you were born to help people, look at how you've helped me these past couple of months".

Phoebe nodded half-heartedly, she faintly heard the front door shut, Prue and Piper must have left, Prue was nervous as well, it was her first day back at her job after her accident, Phoebe steeled herself, if Prue could make it back to work after all the injuries she sustained, then she could do this, if dating a one hundred year old demon assassin didn't make her qualified then what would?

"You're right" she said calmly.

"Will you drop me off?" she asked nicely, smiling as sweetly as she could.

"I can do better than that, grab your stuff" Paige instructed.

Phoebe complied, picking up her bag.

"What are you….." she began but couldn't finish as her and Paige were suddenly covered in blue orbs, when the orbs faded Phoebe felt sick, she was in the police station parking lot, before she could throw up Paige orbed away, hmph, she was just like Prue, Phoebe knew she had orbed her here on purpose so she couldn't change her mind in the car, how did Paige even manage that when their powers had been acting so strangely lately? She filed it away in the back of her mind, she had more important things to do right now, she marched into the police station to begin her new job as police counsellor.

"We got a real psycho for you today" an Inspector Phoebe had never seen before said as she walked in.

What on Earth was she in for?  
She approached Kira, "nervous?" she asked.

Phoebe nodded, unable to speak much through fear of vomiting.

"Well prepare yourself" Kira warned, handing Phoebe a file.

She went to sit at her own desk and gasped slightly as she opened the file and gazed upon the photo staring back at her, she knew this man, everyone in town did, it had been a huge scandal months ago, his name was David McKane, he had been a doctor until he was caught purposely murdering dozens of patients under his care, not giving them correct treatment or botching their surgeries, he had been caught by an Intern and was arrested, he'd pleaded not guilty but the town had labelled him as a maniac serial killer.

Phoebe put down the file, they wanted her to see him? Someone awaiting trial for mass murder? How was she possibly going to help this man? This man who deserved life in jail or possibly worse, she stared at her blank computer screen, she didn't even know where to start. According to the file she was just going in today to assess whether or not it would be plausible that he was in fact, insane. Was she really qualified for this? Time to put her big girl boots on she thought as she grabbed the file and marched toward the back of the station, the interrogation rooms were back here.

"Ready?" a guard waiting outside room 3 asked.

Phoebe nodded, the guard opened the door for her and let her in, he shut the door behind her and Phoebe came face to face with a man for all she knew, was worse than almost any demon she had encountered.

"You're my shrink huh?" he asked politely.

Phoebe took her seat opposite him, he was cuffed to the table with both hands, she was safe, strange she thought, her powers had been weird lately, but she wasn't getting any bad vibes off this man, she hoped she'd at least have enough power for that.

She cleared her throat, "Mr McKane, my name is Phoebe, I'm here to assess your plea for innocence today" she said calmly.

He stared back blankly. He didn't look evil, if you could even look such a way, he looked defeated.

Phoebe put the file down and placed her hands together on the table where he could see them, "Why don't you tell me what happened?" she asked quietly.

"You didn't read my file?" he wondered.

Phoebe nodded, "it was cold, clinical, factual, I want to hear what happened with your own voice, with your own feelings".

"There's no point" he said glumly, "this city thinks I'm guilty, the evidence is pretty damning".

"So you're just outright admitting what you did it?" Phoebe queried.

"My lawyer wants me to plead insanity, but I'm not insane, I'm just guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time" he said, exasperated.

"I'm not the city, I'm just me, and I don't know if I think you're guilty or not, so tell me" Phoebe urged.

David nodded, "I was set-up by my boss, Dr Franklin Jones", "I found out he had been doing experiments on patients, altering drug dosages, seeing what people could handle, I threatened to go to the police, and he told me he'd kill my sister if I did".

"You're sister?" Phoebe asked, opening the file and gazing down the paragraphs, "there's no mention of your sister" she said evenly.

"It won't be in you file, my sister was at the hospital, awaiting a liver transplant, her liver had been almost destroyed by an auto-immune disease, she needed one desperately, I would have donated in a second if I were a match".

Tears began to fall from David's eyes, dampening the metal table beneath, "but she passed away six months ago, because Dr Jones intercepted an incoming liver that would have saved her, and redirected it to a different hospital, even though it was hers", David was trembling from grief.

"I found out what he had done and went to the police, but somehow when they pulled up the footage, it was me they were seeing on the camera altering medicines, I don't know how, it wasn't me" he said weakly.

Now Phoebe was suspicious, "did anything ever come of Dr Jones?" she asked.

"As far as I'm aware they investigated him shortly, found nothing and didn't bother with him again, but I know it was him, and I don't care how insane it makes me sound, I just want justice for my sister, and all those people he experimented with".

An hour later Phoebe sat back at her desk, something about this case was wrong, she had managed to pull up the footage the police had attained but it was pretty concrete, it showed David changing dosages of drugs in a lab, but it was weird that there was no other footage, no other cameras that had picked this up, she had asked Kira but she didn't know anything about it, this case was mostly done and dusted before she had even moved here.

She grabbed her bag and headed for the door, "hey where you off to?" Kira asked as she stalked past.

"Going to see another expert for some advice" Phoebe said, rushing out of the door.

"Elise Rothman?" Phoebe asked as she peered into the office before her, she was at The Bay Mirror newspaper downtown, this had been the paper that had broken the story, she needed to get more facts.

"That's what it says on my door" Elise replied sarcastically, "who are you?"

Maybe this wouldn't be so easy Phoebe thought as she held out her badge.

"I'm Phoebe Halliwell, a city counsellor, I was hoping to ask you a few questions about David McKane" she said as confidently as she could, she felt a little thrill at getting to hold out a badge, she had always been a little jealous when Darryl or Andy had done it.

Elise sighed and leaned back in her chair, "take a seat" she said pointing to the chair before her desk.

An hour later and Phoebe wasn't much closer, Elise had basically told her the same thing the file did, what was interesting was that the source of the tip had been anonymous, and no-one had ever been able to figure out who it had been, definitely suspect Phoebe thought, aside from that the only highlight of the trip was giving some slime-ball advice columnist a slap for telling her she had a great rack. If she had her powers she would have levitated his ass out the window. Well not really, but it was always nice to fantasize. She'd thought about calling her sisters but she didn't want to bother Prue on her first day back, not to mention she was sure that would break some kind of confidentiality clause, no, she would have to solo this one, that meant next up on her list was speaking to the intern that had supposedly caught David in the act.

"So you caught him?" Phoebe asked the meek looking female intern an hour later.

The woman nodded profusely, but Phoebe looked closely, she was sweating, "you seem nervous Audrey" Phoebe said quietly.

"N…no I'm not nervous, I just don't like being a….asked questions is all, this was a while ago for me now" she stammered.

"Hmm" Phoebe said, pretending to jot down some notes in her notebook.

"What are you writing?" Audrey asked, the wobble in her voice giving away her lack of composure.

Phoebe slammed the notebook shut and slammed it onto the table, they were in the hospital waiting room.

"I don't think you're telling me everything" Phoebe said as sternly as she possibly could.

Audrey gulped and looked from left to right, checking for an escape route Phoebe thought.

Phoebe suddenly got an idea, looking at Audrey's bracelet, "ooh how pretty" she said, grabbing Audrey's hand and pretending to study the craftsmanship, come on she thought, don't crap out on me now. Phoebe gasped and let Audrey's hand go as she felt the familiar rush of a premonition, she was still getting used to her now full color visions, especially now her powers were on the fritz she barely got them at all anymore. She paid close attention, the vision showed her what she was expecting, Audrey was taking an envelope full of cash from Dr Jones, sneaking it into her pocket and walking out of the hospital parking lot, he'd bribed her.

The vision ended and Phoebe looked upon the nervous intern with disgust, "admit it, you covered for him didn't you?"

Audrey quickly stood and charged off, Phoebe grabbed her things but Audrey had been too fast, she had disappeared behind a restricted door, she couldn't follow, but now she knew the truth.

"You need me to what?" Paige asked in disbelief, she and Phoebe were stood in the attic, in front of the book of shadows.

"I thought maybe you called me here because you chickened out of work or something".

"Gee Paige thanks for the vote of confidence" Phoebe drawled.

Paige at least had the good grace to look mildly guilty.

"Prue is busy with work and Piper and Leo are unreachable, and since our powers aren't working so well and yours seem okay I need your help, I can't risk this going wrong, a man's life is at stake" Phoebe pleaded.

"Okay, okay, chill out woman you had me at Prue's busy" Paige teased.

"Let's go" Phoebe said as she took Paige's hand, the rush of waviness erupted around her as her atoms scattered and they orbed across the city to the apartment of Dr Franklin Jones.

"I'm pretty sure this is called breaking and entering, and since you're in law enforcement now, I'd have thought that you'd frown upon this" Paige whispered in Phoebe's ear.

Phoebe shushed her and took her hand, leading her new half-sister through the hallway, "I have a bad feeling about this" Phoebe mumbled.

"Way to fill me with encouragement" Paige hissed.

After searching for almost ten minutes, they both met back in the living room, they hadn't found anything suspicious, though Phoebe did have a bad vibe about a part of the wall, which she relayed to Paige.

"The wall?" she asked, confused.

"Right here" Phoebe said, pointing to a patch of wall that had nothing on it, no paint, no wallpaper, no decorations or ornaments of any kind.

"It just feels out of place".

"It's a wall" Paige said, stating the obvious.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "well obviously", she approached the wall and placed her hand on it only for the wall to begin to make a hissing noise and collapse in on itself, revealing a doorway.

"Well that was unexpected" Paige said.

"Now what?"

"Now we go in" Phoebe said, mustering up as much courage as she could.

She wished she hadn't.

Her and Paige gasped as they took in the magically hidden room, a large table sat in the middle, rust marks all over it, marks that could only have been left by blood.

"I'm gonna be sick" Paige gasped as she ran to the corner and vomited.

"Let it out sweetie" Phoebe said absent-mindedly as she scanned the dozens of shelves, jar upon jar sat on them, full of all kinds of things, herbs, spices, and she gulped as she began to see body parts, human body parts, predominately organs if she knew her biology.

"Well, well, well" said a gravelly voice behind them. The duo whirled round and came face to face with Dr Jones, "this will be fun" he smirked.

He stepped into the room, the door sealing itself shut behind him.

End of Chapter Twenty-Nine, stay tuned for Chapter Thirty, "Nightmare".


End file.
